The Beauty and the Beetle
by Out-of-the-inside-out-box
Summary: Lydia Deetz has nothing going for her in her current life, until a cursed poltergeist flips her life upside down. Will she be able to lift his curse, or will she turn her back on him? Based vaguely off of Beauty and the Beast. My first fanfiction. Fin!
1. The Ledgend

**Author's note:** Hello people, This is my first Beetlejuice fanfiction, and first fanfiction I've written in a long time.

It goes along the lines of Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast vaguely, and I hope people like this little story of mine.

This is all I have, the next chapter is in progress and should be up in a couple days. Getting one or two reviews would be highly appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from Beetlejuice, or the story Beauty and the Beast. The characters that are in neither of those stories are rightfully mine though.

Now for the story.

**The Beauty and the Beetle**

**Ch. 1: The legend**

Once upon a time, in a strange far away land; a young lord lived in an enormous castle. He had multitudes of servants, and everything he thought his heart desired. But the lord was spoiled, selfish, and unkind to others.

One night though, an old beggar woman came to the castle, and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. The Lord hated roses, or anything of the sort, and sneered at the woman for her ghastly appearance.

"Get lost you haggard wench." He snapped at her.

She warned him to not be deceived by appearances, for beauty was found within. The Lord casted ugly words upon the woman, and waved her away, but then suddenly, her ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful witch.

The Lord suddenly tried to apologies for his actions, but the woman did not fall for his charm. She had already seen that there was no room for love in his heart, and as punishment, she cast a spell to make him look as he was on the inside. She had transformed him into a poltergeist.

The castle transformed into a roadhouse, and she set her rose at the heart of her curse. She told the lord that if he could learn to love, and gain her love in return before the last petal fell, that the spell would be broken. If not, then he would be doomed for eternity, to remain a poltergeist.

As the years passed, he fell into despair and anger. He lost all hope. Because, well, who could ever love a freak like him.


	2. A new book and the Redevance brothers

**Author's Note:** Ok, well here's chapter 2 hot off the press. A lot longer than the first chapter, that's for sure.

Hope this one is deemed alright, and that I didn't stray too far from Lydia's personality.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice characters, but the unfamiliar characters I do own, because they're mine.

--

**The Beauty and the Beetle  
**

**Ch. 2: A new book and the Redevance brothers**

---

A young woman, around the age of 17, sighed gently, with her eyes closed, leaning back against air itself upon one of the benches next to her country home. "Even though he shouldn't have casted that woman aside…still…I feel sorry for him. He must feel so lonely…" She glanced down from the hill, and looked upon a quaint French-suburban town that was surrounded with a thick forest, and then closed her book. She yawned, groaned, and sat up, stretching with her hand over her head. She turned to her home, to the cellar doors that were flung open, and she called down them with a dainty hand to her mouth. "Good luck papa, I'll be home in a couple hours."

There was a grunt in return, which sounded like 'Ok Lydia.'. The young woman smiled and started to walk down the hill, just missing the smoke suddenly pouring out of the open doors, and the small cheers of joy from the man.

---

Lydia was walking through the main street of the classical town, watching as the towns opened up for business. The store keeps eyed the young lady in the red and black alternative to the school uniform, with the short black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and they called out their good-morning 'Bonjour's'. Lydia smiled and called back to them, waving at them. She glanced down at her book, which read 'Peaceful Pines Legends' across the front, and she looked up again. She watched as the school, with an attached library, got closer. The school was the most modern building this town had. The school was also the second largest building, next to the mayor's house, which was at the center of the town. Lydia rolled her eyes at the commonly used phrase that 'The mayor's house was the heart of the town, and without it, the town would die.' She sighed as, even now, a couple of women outside of the flower shop said those exact words.

Lydia glanced around the road, taking note of the superficial young girls, and the boys that aimed to impress said superficial young girls. The ladies that ignored Lydia, and the men that mocked Lydia. She wanted more than this place, this town that would only look blindly instead of seeing what there was beyond the invisible walls set by the forest. There wasn't much trade here, or any production; this town was self sufficient. Because of that, if someone tried to make them take off their rose-tinted glasses, they would only laugh and shoo the person away, or possibly scorn them.

Lydia was shaken from her thoughts when a girl her age, and a bit taller than her, called out her name.

"Good morning, Lydia!" The girl said, flashing her buck teeth and curling a lock of brown hair around her finger. Lydia smiled back at her.

"Oh hey, Bertha." Lydia said, watching Bertha secretly gawk at a 'cute' boy they walked past. Bertha turned back to Lydia.

"Where are you heading off to this early in the day?" Bertha asked, glancing over Lydia.

"To the library. I just finished reading this book about the legends that surround this town. Did you know that the former Lord was-"

"Oh, uh, that's great!" Bertha said nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear, before spotting a smaller red head, fidgeting with her glasses that were too big for her face. "Hey Prudence! Wait up!" Bertha said, running after the girl. Lydia rolled her eyes and smiled, walking along to the library, ignoring the blond giggling at her own joke.

"Look at that little weird-o." A blond named Clare said haughtily, eyeing Lydia who swung her bag gently. "Quite distracted, can't you tell? I wonder why, oh I know why! Because she's too much of a freak!" She said shrilly, laughing nasally, with her hand in front of her mouth.

"Yes, definitely a weird one, that Lydia Deetz." The blond clones repeated, following after Clare. Lydia just hummed, ignoring the scorns of her peers, walking through the crossfire of the towns talking. She walked into the library attached to the school, and she looked at a middle aged man, fiddling with something at his desk. A woman the same age walked up to Lydia and smiled.

"Good morning Lydia." The woman said, and then nudged the man, her husband, to look up from his work. The man smiled gently.

"Oh, Lydia, it's a pleasure to have you back here, but what brings you back here so soon?" The man asked curiously, eyeing the book that Lydia handed over to the woman.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Maitland, I've come to return the book I've borrowed." Lydia beamed at the couple, turning to the books and scanning them. Mrs. Maitland smiled fondly at the abnormal girl, and then turned to the desk's computer, checking it in.

"You finished the book already?" Mr. Maitland asked curiously, staring at Lydia wide-eyed. Mrs. Maitland elbowed her husband a little too hard.

"Now Adam, leave the poor girl alone. You know how fond she is of reading the books here." Mrs. Maitland scolded her husband gently. Lydia smiled as she grabbed one of the books off the shelf.

"It's ok Mrs. Maitland, I don't mind being asked."

"Dear, call me Barbara." Mrs. Maitland said happily, and Lydia smiled at her.

"I would like to borrow another book." Lydia said, walking over to Adam. He looked up at her, adjusted his glasses, and took the book gently, looking it over. He smiled at Lydia, looking up at her.

"This book?" Lydia nodded at his question. "Well, why not just give it to you, since you keep coming back to it." Adam said, handing the book back to Lydia. She looked at him wide eyed, but then smiled widely.

"Really Mr. Maitland? I can have it?" Lydia asked, holding the book to her chest. Adam smiled and chuckled, nodding. Barbara smiled and hugged her husband from behind gently.

"Only if you'll give us one of your beautiful pictures." Adam smiled widely, along with Barbara. They were fond of Lydia's hobby, and her unique take on it. Lydia nodded rapidly, pulled off her backpack, and pulled out a picture of a spider hanging delicately off of its spider web, which dewdrops of the morning had sprinkled about it. In each of the dewdrops was the fresh glowing morning sunrise. The couple sighed happily at the beauty of the picture as Adam took it gently. Lydia blushed at the attention to her work.

"Well, it's not that great." Lydia said sheepishly, and Barbara snapped her eyes up to Lydia. She walked over to Lydia and rested her hands on Lydia's shoulders, causing Lydia to look up at Barbara.

"Hon, never say that about your photos. They are beautiful, and you could sell any of them in an instant." Lydia stared at Barbara, and then hugged her tightly. Barbara smiled gently and hugged the misunderstood girl back gently.

Then the bell rang for classes to start. Lydia looked at the couple, flashed them a smile, and then grabbed her things. She ran off to class. "I'll see you two tomorrow." She called back to the Maitland's, who smiled.

Adam raised his eyebrow at his now-worried wife. "Now Barbara, you can't watch over her day and night, she has her own family." He watched as his wife crossed her arms and looked out the door sadly.

"But Adam, kids can be so cruel, and Lydia doesn't deserve to be harassed. And that girl…" She said, as a young blond walked daintily along, being followed by a small clique. "I can't stand that girl Adam."

"I know Barbara." He sighed gently. "But what can we do? If we tell her father, then we will get fired. He is the principle after all…" Adam ran a hand through his hair, watching Barbara stomp her foot.

"Then let us get fired!"

"Barbara, you don't mean that." Adam said, watching his wife's anger crumple.

"I know…" She groaned lightly.

The next few hours drifted along quickly, and soon the bell for the end of the day rang.

---

Teenagers poured out of the school, flowing around Lydia as she walked by with her nose in her new book. A young man followed by a shorter man the same age strutted out of the school slowly as well. One of them sighed gently, drearily, as he watched Lydia.

"So graceful, so beautiful, so tempting, but why she doesn't look my way, and loose those books, is simply absurd." The young man groaned, as three young blonds practically fainted in his presence. The shorter man followed, pulling at the straps of his backpack.

These were the Redevance brothers, Vince and Lance. They had a sort of reputation that anyone out from under a rock would hear of. Vince was the basic prince of the school, and all the girls seemed to love his…emotionally in touch abilities, and his tight clothes that seemed a size too small. He was the basic sum of an emo, and every girl in school, except one, loved it. Whereas Lance was the basic opposite. He had no boyish looks or emotional tendencies that his brother had; he was more of a ball of muscle and goofiness, or sometimes anger. What Lance wanted, Vince got, and what Vince wanted, Vince got. Lance made sure of that.

"Don't worry Vince; you'll get her to look your way. Women always look your way, sooner or later." He said, pointing to the three girls on the floor, swooning. He walked up to the boy with black hair covering one eye and tight girl pants, and patted his leg in reassurance.

"I know…" Vince groaned, putting the back of one of his hands to the back of his forehead dramatically. Lance looked up at Vince and wiggled his eyebrows, cheering his brother up somewhat. It always did.

"No girl alive stands a chance against you, or your good looks. Not even that Lydia girl. She's just had her nose in those books for so long, and needs a whiff of the real world. You should go over there and give her that whiff." Lance said, nudging his easily swayed big brother. Vince blinked down at Lance, and smiled hopelessly. He nodded, looked at Lydia, puffed out his chest, and tried to act macho. He stomped over to Lydia.

He grabbed her book, and yanked it out of her hands. Lydia looked up at Vince and blinked. "Bonjour Lydia." Vince said.

"Oh, Bonjour Vince…can I have my book back?" Lydia asked, grabbing for her book, only to have it taken out of her grasp. Lydia looked at him annoyed, as he slipped the book behind his back. "Vince, may I have my book please?" She asked, as he stepped back, looking at it oddly, and sneering at it.

"But why? How can you read this garbage? There's no sorrow, or nothing worthy to be written of; only opera, and useless things…" He mumbled, flipping through the book again. Lydia sighed and crossed her arms.

"Well some people like to not read emotionally laced things. Some people like to read of things like love, and adoration, and beautiful things; like forbidden love." Lydia sighed happily. Lance raised an eyebrow at Lydia and stared at her blankly for a few seconds.

"That's nonsense Lydia. It's time you stopped reading silly things and became like everyone else. You should really start paying more attention to your surroundings." Vince said, tossing the book over his shoulder, and into a mud puddle. Lydia watched in horror as her book got covered in mud, and she rushed over to her book, but not before getting stopped by Vince.

Lydia groaned. "You mean like you, Vince?" Lydia said sarcastically. Vince smirked as he buffed his nails and looked down at them.

"Well, quite frankly, yes." He said, not noticing his fan group fainting at the sight of him again. Lydia rolled her eyes as she wiped off her book with her shirt and hugged it close. "People keep on saying things Lydia. How you dress differently, how you wander off by yourself, and those pictures…" Lydia glanced at him, almost angrily, as she stood up.

"What about my pictures?"

"They're atrocious. Who would even consider your pictures, especially those spiders and those beetles? It's just not right, the way you're acting. If this keeps up, soon others will follow, and it's just not right, for a woman to act that way Lydia." He said, digging his hole deeper and deeper. "It's disgusting."

Lydia sighed and shook her head. "Well Vince, since you find me so disgusting, I'll just be on my way home."

"Oh no, you took that the wrong way Lydia. I meant the way you act is disgusting, not you. You're far from disgusting." Lydia groaned.

"As I said, I should be getting home. My father is expecting me." She said, her niceties fading away. She looked down at the short man that popped up next to Vince.

"You mean Chicken liver Chucky? He's such a coot, seeing things that aren't there. You should spend your time with someone who deserves it, like my bro, Vince!" Lance said semi-bowing to Vince, who smiled. Lydia stared at the two dryly, before leaving.

The three girls sighed and shook their heads. "That Lydia is leaving." "She's crazy!" "But he's gorgeous!" Clare squealed to her lackeys, and they all sighed happily as Vince reverted to his not-so-cocky state.

"Well there she goes Lance. Thanks for trying to root me on, but apparently she's not interested." Vince sighed. Lance waved his hand.

"Nah, she's just being crazy. Brainwashed by that coot of a father." Lance said, just as an explosion sounded at Lydia's house, which caused Lydia to run for it. Lance laughed at himself, while Vince chuckled and looked at Lydia longingly.

---

**Foot note:** Sorry to any Vince fans out there, but I'm not quite fond of him, so I made him have a sort of split personality. Lance is one of my characters though. I would of added more to this chapter, but if I did, the next saving point would have added on an extra thousand or two thousand words, and we all know how crazy long chapters look if it's over 25 hundred words. So I decided this would be a fantastic stopping point.

Tune in next time my lovelies, our favorite polterguist will be around.


	3. The Invention, and the Poltergeist

**Author's Note:** Woo, give it up for the first reviewer, Arlequina3000. *gives cookie*. Arle and my sis made me want to write this up earlier than expected. Thanks, you're both awesome.

Anyways, now that that's out of my system.

**Disclamer:** I do not own any of the Beetlejuice characters, but the unfamiliar characters I do own. Now, without further adu:

**The Beauty and the Beetle**

**Ch. 3:** invention, and the Poltergeist

---

A rumbling sound crept over the house on the outskirts of town, as smoke billowed out of the open doors to the cellar. Lydia gasped and screamed in surprise at the black smog, as she waved it away. She dropped her bag to the soft ground, and made her way through the smoke, not able to see at all until she made it to the cellar. She coughed, covering her mouth and wincing through the smoke.

"Papa?" she coughed out, waving the black smoke away, until she caught sight of her father flailing around with a contraption on his head. Lydia blinked at her father, watching him confusedly, as the smoke aired out of the cellar. She gasped as she watched him run into the desk usually he sat at. "Papa!" she cried out, rushing over to the blond elder and pulling off the contraption from his head.

He groaned and rubbed his head, running his hand through his hair as he rubbed his temple. "O-oh Lydia, you're home." He droned to himself more than to her, and smiled wearily at his daughter. Lydia sighed and put the odd thing down on the desk that her father leaned against. She looked at him, taking in the damage. Nothing more than a few smoke and oil stains splattered among his work clothes, skin, and hair. This was Mr. Deetz, a once young and exuberant boy, traded in for an exhausted, but still aspiring man.

He smiled gently at the young woman in front of him, who now had her arms crossed and her eye brow raised. "Papa, I thought that you would be resting by the time I returned from town." She said, watching him sigh.

"I-I know Lydia, but this morning, when you left, I had a breakthrough with my invention!" he said, a ray of excitement in his voice and his eyes. Lydia glanced over at the odd contraption previously on her father's head.

"What sort of breakthrough?" she asked as she grabbed the item gently, looking it over more curious then annoyed. Mr. Deetz walked over to his daughter, and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"The type that your mother had before she passed away." Lydia bit her lip gently, gripping the invention tighter, still listening to her father babble. "You know that little theory of there being spirits, and another world besides ours?" Lydia nodded gently. "Well, I don't know how, but somehow, I got to tap into that other world with the mirror that was broken those years ago." Lydia winced at the memory. Her father was dense to her pain though.

"The mirror mom said she saw spirits with?"

"Yes!" Her father exclaimed. "Go ahead! Try those glasses on, and flip on the switch!"

"Switch?" Lydia asked, looking around the glasses, only to find a small lever that connected to small dual motors on both sides of the glasses. That was the highest in technology that this self-sufficient town had to offer, which was not shabby for Peaceful Pines. Lydia pulled at the rubber wrapping that held the glasses to the head, and pulled it around her head. Having her ears pressed against the little motors on both sides, and blinded by the thick mirror glass, only seeing the dark reflection of her big brown eyes, she gently grasped the small switch and turned it on.

With a quick sputter and groaning for the miniature fans in the small motors to start up, there was a gurgle the same to an engine in an early car, and miniature puffs of black smoke poured out of the ventilation system of the motors. The invention slowly flickered on, and the mirrors lit up with an eerie, almost radiation colored glow. She looked around the room, which looked the same with slanted changes, and had one more exception. Where there was no one with here in the cellar, there were hundreds of glowing orbs in the shape of people and beings, moving about. It seemed almost like night vision, but the people had no form. They were merely spirits that wandered about in a realm almost exact to theirs.

Lydia gasped, and flipped off the invention. She waited for the motors to settle and stop completely, before removing them. She looked at Mr. Deetz, who smiled almost smugly. "I told you I was onto something." He said coolly, rubbing his nails against his chest. Lydia smiled at her father's rare confidence, and ran up to him, hugging him tightly.

"Oh papa! These are marvelous! Definitely beyond our time. And it's going to knock those cocky smiles off those jerks." Lydia said, smiling up at him. He returned the gesture and gently grabbed the glasses out from her hands, walking over to the work desk.

"Yes, yes, but I still have time before I have to leave. Maybe I can work the kinks out of it, get it to stop billowing black smoke, and whatnot." He said, pulling out his tools and messing around with the small motors. "So, Lydia, did you have a good time in town today?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of his invention.

Lydia sighed, and leaned against the end of the table, making sure not to interfere with her father's work. "Not really. I got a new book, but besides that not really. I mean, I'm glad that I go to school, but there are not really a lot of people to actually talk to. There's Bertha and Prudence, but when I try to talk to them they always run off, like I'm some sort of plague…" Lydia sighed melodramatically. Her father glanced up at her for a second, before looking down again.

"Well what about the Redevance brothers? Vince seems rather fond of you, and he talks to you, doesn't he?"

"Well yes, but…papa…" She turned to him, as he stopped his work for a second. "Do you think I'm weird?" Her father looked up at her wide eyed.

"My little Lydia? Weird? Who told you that? Was it that Clare girl again that you keep on going on about?" He asked, smiling at his daughter's embarrassed blush. Lydia looked away, at the ground. He turned back to his work.

"Well, not her today, she was too wrapped up in Vince, as it seems to be today. But…I don't fit in here papa. The towns folk cast me away, and the only people that actually seem to care are the Maitlands."

"That librarian couple?" he asked, already knowing his daughter would nod. "Well dear, until you graduate, you'll have to deal with just that." Lydia sighed, and nodded gently. At least there was only a month left of school before they let out for summer. "Now let us see if this little invention will work semi-cleanly." Mr. Deetz said, flipping on the invention. It seemed to sputter to life a bit quicker and the smoke that it spat out was a healthy shade of light brown. Mr. Deetz smiled at his invention, as he squared his shoulders in pride.

Lydia looked at the invention, and smiled widely at it. "You did it papa! It works better!" She said, hugging her father gently.

"Yup. Go grab Tillent, Lydia. I'm off to the fair." He said, glancing through the glasses, only to see a pair of foreign eyes staring back at him through the green glow. He gasped in fear and turned off the glasses, slumping into his chair. "Maybe packing my things wouldn't hurt either…" He groaned, losing all confidence he had. Lydia sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She ran out of the cellar, grabbed the bag she forgot about on the lawn, and went to go pack his things. He would tend to leave for months at a time, so she decided to gather a small drag along wagon for his items.

---

Lydia waved after her father as he rode down the road on his tan and blond horse, pulling along the wagon with his personal items on it behind them. "Good bye Lydia! Take care while I'm gone!" He called back to his daughter, who wished him good travels. He would be gone for a few months, and he was the only one that made it through the forest alive, or so it seemed.

The sun had just about started to set when Mr. Deetz and his companion made it to the fork in the road, both paths covered by mist. Tillent looked about himself, looking down both paths as Mr. Deetz looked at his map. Down one path was a harmless, lighter passage. Down the other was a darker, creepier path that screamed 'Death Trap'. Mr. Deetz sighed as he flipped his map, and then looked up from it. He looked down the creepier path, and shivered. "Well…um…the map does say that this path is the quicker way to the convention. And you do know what they say Tillent; the road less traveled is the quicker path. Or…something like that…" Mr. Deetz groaned to himself, and sighed.

He semi whipped his horses reins, urging Tillent to step forward up towards a sign. Mr. Deetz looked over the sign, which split into two ways. They both had white wording smeared out, and even chipped out for the most part. They seemed to say the same thing though, and Mr. Deetz nodded. "Well there's your proof Tillent; they both go the same way. Now let's…get to the convention faster." He said quietly, urging his unsteady horse down the creepier road. If it were up to Tillent, he would make a break for it and hope to get back home in one piece.

Minutes seemed to tick on like hours, as the two beings went along the path slowly. The path seemed to get creepier and more deserted, desolated, the farther they went down the road. Mr. Deetz could not understand how his daughter found any of this beautiful; it was starting to scare the crap out of him. Also, another thing that started to worry the two of them, if they could consider themselves worried anymore, was the growling and the shifting of the forest around them. Tillent shifted his eyes, and his head, trying to keep up with the distant growls and eerie shifting.

It was then that Tillent was spooked.

Mr. Deetz tried to calm down his horse, but things seemed to get worse and worse for the blond man, who was frightened himself. In one swoop, Tillent backed into a tree, scared the hidden bats from it, magicly unhooked its ties to the cart it pulled, reared up –knocking Mr. Deetz onto his ever-loving rear-and split from his owner. One of the newly woken bats knocked Mr. Deetz' only light to the ground, leaving the poor, frightened man alone, just barely able to see a couple wolves chase after his horse.

Mr. Deetz was left alone, with nothing but growling surrounding him. He gasped, and shook with fear, as the outline of wolves came out from behind a few trees of the forest. He was always told the stories of people never returning from this forest, and for once in his life, he believed them. His instincts kicked in, and he booked it on shaky feet. He would scream, but that would only draw unwanted attention –it wasn't like the five or six wolves following him wasn't attention enough-.

He quickly came upon a pair of gates, leading up to a building fogged over from sight. He didn't care, they were gates. Bars that would separate him from certain zoom. He had gained a few seconds of time, and started to bang on the bar gates, shaking at them and praying with all his being that they were open, or at least loose. He gasped as he heard snarls a millisecond behind him, when the gates budged from his weight. They closed immediately after Mr. Deetz got through, and he squirmed his way away from the jaws of death.

He forgot all about his hat, as he stood and looked up through the fog. It was an enormous building…a dilapidated looking…road house? It was too big to be a road house though…it could pass for a mansion…if it wasn't on the verge of collapsing. He didn't care though, as long as he got inside, and could regain his nerves. He ran up to the doors, and it was then that it started to pour cats and dogs. The rain came from out of nowhere, almost as if there was a cloud set just for the castle-like-road house.

He looked around, his nerves practically shattered, and he knocked on the door loudly. The door creaked open, allowing him inside. He shook his head, trying to keep calm, and he walked inside. He looked around inside, and eyed what seemed to be the main hallway. It was huge, and darkly lit, but looked like it could hold thousands of people. There were high ceilings which seemed to reach the stars. He sighed and closed his eyes, closing the door behind him. There was no time to gawk; he needed to find someone to help him.

"H-Hello?" he stuttered, looking about the room, hoping someone would hear him. He whispered louder, wanting to be noticed by someone. He thought he'd heard whispers a second ago though. It could have been his imagination, but-

"The fellow must 'av lost 'iz way in ze woodz." A thick accent said hushed. It echoed, so Mr. Deetz couldn't pin point where it came from.

"Maybe if you hush, he will go away." Another hushed voice said, also echoed. Mr. Deetz was determined to find these foreign voices.

"I-Is someone there?" He called out to the empty hall, cupping his hands around his mouth. Around one of the corners, a skull peaked around, seeming to gleam light off of it. Two almost invisible orbs shifted in its eye sockets, shifting from Mr. Deetz, to the unseen friend he had.

"Come on Will…" The skull whispered sympathetically, as one of his skeletal hands gripped the corner gently. There was a groan as a blue skinned boy with tall hair and large glasses looked at the skeleton pointedly.

"No, not a word." The boy said stubbornly, rubbing his blue-skinned nose, with his over-sized black-and-white striped sleeve. He dragged the skeleton back out of sight at Mr. Deetz turned their way.

"I don't mean to intrude, but-" Mr. Deetz voice echoed through the hall. "-I lost my horse, and I sure could use a place to stay for the night." Mr. Deetz said, almost hopelessly. The two beings peaked out from the corner that was just passed, and the skeleton looked at the man sadly.

"Oh come on Will, have a heart." The skeleton said sadly, his thick French accent leaking through. Will just shushed the skeleton, watching the man, who was still oblivious to their existence. The skeleton stared at Will, and then smirked through Will's hand. The skeleton pulled his arm free, and tickled him unexpectedly. Will squealed and started to laugh, being ultra-sensitive to being tickled. Mr. Deetz turned around, startled at the sudden sound, and almost fainted at there being a walking, talking skeleton standing in front of him. "Allo monsieur." The skeleton said, making the man jump.

"A-a-a-aaaa s-s-skeleton!" Mr. Deetz stuttered, stepping back. He seemed to have paled tremendously at the abnormal site. He then started to sneeze rapidly, and his world started to shake. Something inside seemed to snap under the pressure he was under that night, and he wasn't so frightened; at least tonight. Maybe sleep, or relaxing…

"Oh monsieur, you are soaked to ze bone!" the skeleton said worriedly, tapping his hands against the sides of his skull, the glowing orbs for eyes shined with worry. "Come, sit by ze fire!" He ushered Mr. Deetz to a small room off to the side of the hallway, and Mr. Deetz followed gratefully. All the while, glowing green orbs watched angrily.

Will was following, protesting wildly, with no effect on the two. Will stumbled and tripped over the small steps that led to a plush chair. Will looked up from his fall, and stared wide-eyed in horror. "Oh no, not the master's chair! Anywhere but there!" Will panicked, practically pulling out his own hair. The skeleton just waved off his horror.

"Oh Will, you worry too much!" The skeleton said lightly, as Will huffed.

"And YOU worry to little Jacques!" Will fumed. Jacques merely laughed lightly, as he watched a yapping dog with horns sticking out its forehead run up to Mr. Deetz. Mr. Deetz chuckled and pet the abnormal dog.

"Why hello there little fella, what's your name, hmm?" He asked, drained of the energy to be frightened. For now.

"Well that'd be Poopsie for ya there mistah!" A nasally voice said, as a cart pulled up next to Mr. Deetz. He looked over and saw a giant rose colored spider, followed by five or so smaller versions. He just merely chuckled once, slightly amused. "Would ya like a spot a tea mistah?" She asked, pouring a cup of tea out for the man. He gladly accepted it, thankful for something warm.

"No tea! No tea, or anything!" Will waved around, but he was fully ignored.

"So, miss.."

"Jus' call me Ginga, dear."

"Ginger…where is the one that owns this place? I can see all of you are here, but…"

"I'm right here bone head." A gritted voice rolled into the room, as the windows flashed open, and the fire was put out immediately. Mr. Deetz gasped as he dropped his cup onto the floor. All of the servants huddled into the corner, shaking with fear. There was a high wind that picked up and swirled around the poor, frightened man, as scratches came to him. It felt like a tornado of razor blades and rotting smells to the man, and it was terrifying. The winds subsided, and in front of Mr. Deetz formed a tall being that couldn't be seen. Mr. Deetz shook with more terror than he had ever felt in his life.

The being turned his head to the huddled servants in the corner of the room. "What is a stranger doing in my road house?" The voice rasped in anger. The servants paled, as Jacques spoke up slowly.

"W-Well m-mons-sieur, he n-needed a p-place to st-tay, and well-" Then there was a roar from the being, as he seemed to shape into a much more intimidating figure, still casted in shadow. A monstrous figure, with its arms whipped back, and curled forward, ready to hurt anything. Will then started to defend himself, and the creature roared at Will too. Green eyes then shifted to Mr. Deetz, as the same form still retained.

"You! What are you doing here!? You shouldn't even be here." The being said hoarsely, starting to seemingly crawl after Mr. Deetz, who stumbled out of the chair and backwards, not wanting to be hurt or even touched.

"I-I was lost in the woods, and-" he tried to tell the being.

"You are not welcome here!" The creature roared at him, seeming to grow bigger in size, his eyes burning brighter.

"I-I'm s-sorry." He said, putting his hand over his heart. He couldn't stop looking at the creature, couldn't look away.

"What are you staring at?!" The creature rawred, getting up on its hind legs.

"Nothing!" He tried to defend himself.

"So, you like staring at the freak huh?! You've come to stare at the freak have you?!" the being said, taking form into something more hideous, and cut off the man before he could excape.

"No, please! I mean no harm! I just needed a place to stay!" He screamed out, as the creature took him.

"I'll give you a place to stay!" the creature said, taking Mr. Deetz, and leaving the room. The servants watched in horror as their master took the poor man to some place horrible, and they all shook…


	4. Imprisonment

**Author's note:** Woo, sorry about the wait guys, but here it is, chapter 4. Man these chapters keep on getting longer...

I thank Arlequina3000 and K.A. Davidson for reviewing, and actually liking my story. Thanks you two.

Now, onto the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Beetlejuice characters, but the unfamiliar characters I do own. Now, without further adu:

**Beauty and the Beetle**

**Ch. 4: Imprisonment**

The birds chirped around the Deetz' cottage as a small heard of students huddled around out of potential sight. The Redevance brothers, Vince and Lance, peaked through the shrubbery that made for a marking of where the Deetz' property ended. Vince looked at the cottage longingly and then back to his smaller brother. "Lance, I can't do this. Lydia will have nothing to do with me after this!" Vince exclaimed, barely able to stand up to his brother. Lance sighed.

"Well, Vince, if you don't go and mark your territory, what's going to happen then?!" Lance said, running a stubby hand through his hair. He watched as his brother's will bend and morphed; impressionable he was. Lance smirked as his brother's eyes held glimmers of courage. "Now go give that girl the surprise of her life!" Lance cheered his brother, shoving him through the shrub and turning to the group.

"Listen up men," he said to the group standing around a small makeshift wedding set. It might have been a little eccentric, but it would show Lydia that Vince meant business. He was going to make sure his brother was happy, even if it might not last long. "When Vince comes out that door with Lydia wrapped around his arm, I'll strike up the band." He said, the men watching him intently, and the women sobbing their heads off. Lance rolled his eyes at the superficial girls, that he had no tolerance for.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Lydia lounged on the couch, her legs dangling over the arm rest. She sighed as she lay back, holding the book to her chest. "A ghost in love…it's kind of romantic, even if the stalking is a little over the top." She sighed gently, closing her eyes. Her black hair, out of the usual pony tail, was spread out around her. She had changed out of her uniform and was now in a lavender long shirt that had spider webbing along the sleeves, and dark red pair of pants, custom made herself.

The knocking at the door jerked the girl from her thoughts, and she motioned her head towards where the door was located. She sighed, swinging her legs over the arm rest and letting them rest on the floor. She then hoisted herself up, and walked to the door, leaving the book on the couch. She glanced through the peep hole that her father had installed into the door, and saw a very nervous and jittery Vince. She groaned to herself and opened the door, wishing it was someone she could shoo away.

Vince barged right in the door opened up wide enough for him, which wasn't very wide mind you. Lydia stared at the emotional boy before her, not even sparing him a smile of endearment, or even a glimmer of glee to see him. "Hello Vince, come to harass my abilities once more?" She said dully, watching him twitter around the house, fiddling his thumbs and all the actions that involve nervousness.

Vince then turned to her, after walking into the living room and getting ready to sit on the couch. "Well Lydia, I've come to ask for…for your h-hand in marriage." He looked at the ceiling, lacing his fingers together. He didn't notice the look on her face was a look of horror, and took it as a look of pleasant shock. "I'm not one to be blunt, but you are a beautiful woman, a woman in dire need of my…assets." he said coyly, sitting right down on her book.

Lydia gasped in horror, and rushed over to pull the book out from underneath the boy's frail body. She hugged her book, and was ready to glare at the intruder, when he was suddenly in her face, leaning close to her. She jumped back. He followed her around the house. She tried to push him away. He swatted her hand away quickly, trying to stare into her very soul. She groaned inwardly. Those eyes, those empty, soulless eyes, that searched her very soul for something to leach onto and suck her life force away with.

Lydia avoided his look. Normally, she would find such eyes attractive, to a point, but when they were on Vince…well, it became rather uncomfortable. She glanced around for an escape route, only to back into her door. "Uhm…Vince…I…I don't know what to say…" she mumbled, running her hand along the door, trying to find the door knob.

"Say you'll marry me Lydia." He said wistfully, leaning down to her. They were inches away, centimeters away. "Say you'll marry me, and you can leave everything behind. You don't want this, do you Lydia? You would rather have a big house, with thousands of things to help you ravish about me." Lydia was getting nervous, and she would have started to shake, if she wasn't stubborn. "You can be rich, and you can love the best thing that's ever come into your life. Just two. Simple. Words." Lydia would have screamed as he closed his eyes and almost planted his lips on hers.

She finally found the door knob and her eyes lit up instantly. She smiled gently, trying to shy away from Vince. "Well, geese Vince, I…I just do not deserve you!" She said, flinging the door open and letting Vince tumble out of the door way. She watched Vince tumble down the porch, down the slope, through the shrubbery, and knock into a good ten or fifteen people. Lydia smiled, proud of herself, as groans of pain sounded in the distance. She then left the house, closing the door behind her, and wandered over to the field.

"God…that was a close one." She groaned to herself, sitting in the middle of the field, right under a giant oak tree. "Vince…bleck. That fem boy. I could never marry someone like him. I'd be afraid to even breath in his direction, afraid that he might break." She mumbled to herself. She hugged her legs to herself, resting her head on her knees. "He's a good friend, when he isn't hitting on me, or mocking my belief system… I just…" She shook her head, and closed her eyes, drifting off slowly. "I just wish I could find someone that actually enjoyed me for who I was…someone that I could hug and have fun with…"

She shook her head again. "What am I saying? Someone like that doesn't exist! Not here at least! I need to leave the country! Move overseas or at least over the boundaries…" She said determinedly. "I can do it! I know I can! All I need is...the money…" She groaned to herself, shrinking back into herself. "I just want something more than Peaceful Pines…something more than Vince and something more than my father's love…" She sighed again, and was shaken out of her mind when she heard a distant neigh.

Lydia looked up, and saw Tillent running up to her, startled out of his wits. She rushed over to him and calmed him down. "Tillent, what happened…" She looked at where the cart was, to not find it at all. "Where's papa, and where's all of the things?" She asked worriedly. She looked back at the trail. "You have to take me there Tillent. Take me to where you last saw papa!" She looked at him straight in the eyes, and he panicked. She calmed him down again. "It couldn't have been that bad! Please Tillent…" She rested her forehead on Tillents head, and he gave into her pleas. Lydia jumped onto Tillent, and he rushed off to where he last saw Mr. Deetz; in the woods.

---

Slowly, as Tillent walked through the ever-darkening forrest, Lydia looked about her. Her eyes shown with glee, as she saw beauty that no one else could see in these dead and dying things that surrounded them in the forest. Her mind then went back to her kidnapped father, and she slapped the slight awe out of her mental state. She looked forward, starting to shake with fear. Her mind started to race about what kind of person would kidnap her own father. She then gasped; her eyes rested on a giant roadhouse, which looked ready to fall off of itself. She bit her lip, she would have been amazed at the roadhouse, if she did not know that her father's captor was within those walls.

She looked at her horse, and she ran her hand down his mane reassuringly. It caused her horse to jump at first, but then he calmed down. She got off of her horse, stumbling and almost tripping over a loose root from a nearby tree, and walked up to the gate. Tillent started to whine, and stomp its feet, ready to run off any second. Its eyes were glued to the giant roadhouse, terrified by its presence. Lydia turned back to her horse and ran back to him, petting its head gently. "Easy Tillent, easy. Don't be afraid of a little grime and cobwebs. It's just like any regular roadhouse." She cooed to Tillent, trying to ease his nerves, which seemed to work. Lydia smiled at the nervous wreck. "Stay out here while I go find papa, ok?" she asked, and she got a nervous stomp of the foot in return, signifying yes. She walked up to the gates again, swallowing any fear or anxiety she had.

This place did give her the creeps, even though she would never show it. If she were to face her father's captive head on, she wouldn't have the luxury of fear or anxiety. She had to learn that the hard way through her peers. She gripped the gate gently, and pushed it. It gave easily under her fingers. She creaked it open just wide enough for her to slip through, and the first thing she spotted was her father's hat. She gasped to herself, and ran over to it, picking it up gingerly. "Papa…" she looked up at the road house, covered over with fog and darkness. "I'll rescue you."

---

Inside the castle, Will was ranting to Jacques about the event that just occurred.

"You just had to invite him in, didn't you?" His voice cracked at the last few parts. "Invite him in, set him down, serve him tea, let him pet the yapper. It's always about the niceties with you, isn't it, you-you-bonehead!" Will ranted nasally, jabbing his blue-tinted finger against Jacques's chest plate. He then pushed his pink-rimmed glasses back up his nose.

"I was trying to be hospitable." Jacques said, his thick French accent rolling over his words. They stopped their bickering as the giant front doors groaned. They dropped what they were doing, and looked around the corner, to see Lydia's small body press open the doors. She gasped in amazement at the high ceilings and classic feeling of the room. It didn't look like the inside of a roadhouse, more like the inside of a castle! She almost lost her balance from looking up so high, to try and see the top of the room. Her eyes then wandered about her, trying to search for anyone.

"H-hello? Is…Is anyone here?" Her voice said hesitantly, almost giving her away. She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Hello…papa…where are you…" she whispered to herself. She walked up to the stairway that led to the next floor. She didn't want to move, she didn't want to get lost in this maze of a roadhouse, but her feet walked for her, moving gracefully and without sound. Slowly she went up floor after floor, calling out for her father quietly.

---

A small rose colored spider crawled and climbed about in the kitchen, spotting a bigger version of himself from the ceiling. He stuck the end of his string on the ceiling and dangled down to her. Ginger was washing her little spiders, and humming nasally. "Ladadedade." She sang, drying off her babies and popping them onto the floor. The cheered and hugged their mother. The last little spider lowered down to look his mom right in the eye.

"Mama! There's a girl in the castle!" the little spider squeaked at Ginger, who just plucked the little spider off its string and dunked him into the tub that was used for washing dishes.

"Now shugah, I'll not have you makin' up such wild stories." She said sweetly, if not a little crossly. The little spider coughed, not expecting the sudden water to wash over him. The little spider waved his arms.

"Really mama, I saw her! She has black hair, and-"He was dunked back into the water, and coughed out a little water as Ginger washed him mindlessly.

"Now now shugah, not another word." She hummed, and then looked over when she heard a squeal from one of the random ghosts that wandered the castle. The ghost floated over to the spiders, squealing and fanning her face with her hand fan, which too was ghostly.

"My word! I just saw a girl in zee castle!" she said, then flew off to tell another person.

"See, I told you." The little spider said, and Ginger just rolled her eyes.

---

Will and Jacques were following Lydia the whole time, Will making snide comments silently at Jacques. He, in return, would spook Will with the silliest of things. It was quite amazing how Lydia hadn't sensed the two following her the whole time; she was mostly preoccupied with finding her father. With every footstep her fears grew worse and worse, fearing that something worse than she had expected had happened to him. She was so caught up, that she didn't even hear the two talking quietly to themselves.

"So, Will, what do you make of this girl? Maybe she has come to…ohohoho…break zee spell." Jacques said, jabbing Will's side with his bony elbow gently. Will sighed to himself and shoved his glasses back up his nose, then looked at the girl, studying her.

"I make nothing of her. She'll be thrown out of here faster than that man was locked up, once the master gets wind of her." He said, slightly cross. He crossed his arms, his black and white striped clothing hanging off his arms. Jacques would have frowned, if he could.

"Aww…monsieur, don't be so negative."

"And you don't be so positive." Will snapped. They stopped as Lydia stopped, and they hid when she turned to look at where they stood. Her eyes were wide, and she shook her head lightly, and then went on her way. Will and Jacques looked at each other, and Jacques made a motion to smile at Will. Will tried to stop Jacques by tugging on one of his ribs, but ended up yanking it out of the rib cage. Jacques continued to follow after Lydia, and Will just chucked the loose rib at that bone head of his. He then, reluctantly, followed after the skeleton.

Lydia continued to call after her father, hoping to get some reaction, some voice that belonged to her father. She then heard a creek behind her, and looked, to find a door cracked open that wasn't open a second ago. She rubbed her arm for reassurance, and wanted to turn back then. She shook that thought from her head, and stepped into the door. If she wanted to find her father, then she would have to look everywhere.

She looked through the door, and saw a sparingly staircase that seemed to lead up further then she thought. She heard echoing footsteps walking up the staircase, and she sprung forward. "Wait! I'm looking for my father, please wait!" She cried out, and stumbled up the staircase, and looked around for the person she thought she heard. "That's weird…I thought…" she bit her lip and then looked at the room before her. It looked like a dungeon that she had only heard about in stories. There was a familiar groan in one of the holding rooms, and she gasped. She rushed over to it.

"Papa…" she cooed, and she looked at the hand reaching out through the bars sadly. In the corner of the room, in the darkest part, a green eye looked upon the stranger, fully aware. He growled to himself…

"Lydia! What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Mr. Deetz stammered out, frightened out of his mind.

"Your hands are like ice." Lydia said, her voice shaking somewhat. Her eyes widened as he coughed. "We have to get you out of here!" She cried out, and her father looked at her.

"Lydia, no. I want you to leave this place."

"Who's done this to you?" She asked, determined to get an answer. She noticed her father's eyes shift past her, to look at something behind her. He then looked back at her.

"No time to explain, you must go. Now." He said, looking around, his eyes looking for something he couldn't find.

"I won't leave you!" She said stubbornly. Then something grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around.

"What are you doing here?" A voice rasped angrily, as she was knocked hard against the wall, and she fell to her knees. The figure faded out of focus as her father's voice cried out in fear for her. Lydia looked up, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Who's there?" She cried out, looking around her. She looked to the beam of light that broke through the dungeon's ceiling, and noticed a dark figure behind it. "Who are you?!" She cried out, staring at the figure, which seemed to hunch over and grow bigger.

"I'm the master of this castle." The voice rasped, angry that another person would intrude into his domain. The voice seemed to growl and shift back into a darker part of the room. Lydia stood her ground, and watched the creature's figure shift about.

"I've come for my father. Please, let him out, can't you see he's sick?" Her voice pleaded.

"Then he shouldn't have trespassed into my domain!" The voice yelled, green eyes piercing through Lydia. She looked at those eyes pleadingly.

"But he could die! Please, I'll do anything to save him!" She leaned forward. The green eyes looked away.

"There's nothing you can do." The voice grumbled low toned. "He's my prisoner." The voice said, growing distant. Lydia followed the figure, and then dipped her head.

"Oh…there must be something…" She then thought of something, and she looked up and reached out for the voice. "Wait!" The figure stopped and turned, green eyes glinting at her. She hesitated, and then leaned forward, letting what little light there was shine on her face. "Take me instead." She said quietly. The green eyes flashed with confusement, and then they flickered into deep thought. A few minutes passed, and then there was a snap.

"Done." The voice rasped, and Mr. Deetz tried to persuade Lydia's decision.

"Lydia, no! I'm old, I've lived my life! Don't do this! Think of everyone you love and care about!" he pleaded, and the voice snarled.

"No, father. I have to do this, I have to save you…" She turned to the voice, whose eyes were studying her. "Will you let him go?" the eyes then flickered away, and thought it over. The voice chuckled once.

"Yes, but, as a price, you have to stay with me, forever, without any intent to leave. Got it babes?" The voice said, thick with sarcastic sweetness. Lydia leaned back a little, tuning out her father's pleas and thinking about the deal. She looked up at those eyes, and then bit her lip gently.

"Come…into the light." She said, taking in the surprised look. "I want to see who my captive is..right?" She said slowly.

"Fine babes, as you wish." The voice croaked and stepped into the light. He was just taking the shape he was used to, and there stood a man who looked 25. He had blue skin, dirtied blond hair, and a suit that was black and white striped, layered with years and years of grime. He looked at his red-tipped fingers, and smirked, in a dry and bemused way. When he smirked, he had bugs in his teeth. The sight would terrify most people, and it slightly disturbed her, but at the same time, she was intrigued. His deep green eyes flickered at hers, and their eyes met. She took a breath she was lacking, and she looked away.

She looked up at her father, who reached out to her and cupped her face in his hands. "No Lydia, I can't let you do this." He pleaded, and she looked at him desperately. She then pulled away, and he called out for her. She walked up to the man who looked decayed to a point, and she gripped her hands together. She looked at him, and he raised a blond eyebrow in question.

"You…you have my word." She said shakily, and she saw a cruel smirk rest on his lips before she heard a snap. She gasped and she looked back at her father's cell. It started to creek and crumble, budging and shaping into a walking ball big enough to move Mr. Deetz. He reached out to Lydia, and she reached out to her father, her eyes filling with terror. "Wait…" She cried out, as the walking cell carried her father out.

"You know where to go ya piece of junk." The man said, smacking the ball for it to go. It walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the castle. He cackled dryly, and crossed his arms. He looked down at Lydia, and his smirk dropped a little. She was starting to cry, and he would have knelt down and patted her back, if he was that type of man. Instead, he just narrowed his eyes, and sneered at the girl. "Don't snivel, prisoner." He turned away, and barely heard her say 'You didn't let me say goodbye' before he left the room.

Waiting outside of the room was Jacques, fiddling his thumbs and being a bonehead. "Um…Master Beetlejuice…"

"What?" He snapped at the skeleton. Jacques adverted his eyes and waived his hand.

"Well..since…the young woman is going to be staying…why don't we get her a room? A place she can call her own?..." He asked carefully, and Beetlejuice snarled. He grabbed one of the ribs and yanked it out, watching the skeleton drop to pieces on the floor. He cackled and dropped the rib on his head. "Then again…maybe not." The skeleton groaned.

Beetlejuice walked back into the room, looking at the girl who was sobbing on the floor. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Lydia looked up and stared at the man angrily. "You didn't even let me say goodbye! I'll never see him again! You…you could have let me say goodbye to him…" She looked at the ground again, and Beetlejuice was taken aback by the girl's sudden outcry.

He rubbed his arm, and looked away. "Well, I was going to let you have a room…but If you're going to be rude…" Lydia looked up at him, wide eyed with tears.

"W…What?"

"Well, you don't want to stay up here do you? You'll die in less than a week." He asked, knowing that she shook her head gently. He then huffed. "Women, what a hassle." He rasped to himself. "Well then come on, before I forget all about your sorry butt." He said, and left the room. Lydia scrambled to get to her feet, and then followed after Beetlejuice.


	5. The Glow

**Author's note:** Sorry this one's so short my lovely watchers. I just started online classes for the summer, and it kind of screwed me over. Hopefully going to sort through it by next Monday. Another reason why this is so short is because I wanted a chapter of just Beetlejuice and Lydia, and, ya know, Vince and Lance are a hassle (yes, they will be in the next chapter, sadly).Oh, and the glow is an important element to this, fyi.

A special shout out to my two buddies, Arlequina3000 and K.A. Davidson. Love ya two.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice, or the characters involved in the lovely series. Now, onto our story.

**The Beauty and the Beetle  
**

**Ch. 5: The glow**

---

Along the dark and bleak corridors, two being walked…more or less. A young woman clashed in dark walked gracefully beside a floating man, who had a bored sneer on his face, watching the rug before him flow under him. He glanced at the girl, Lydia, as she gripped her hands tightly, looking around what most would call fearful eyes. Being the man-err poltergeist- he was, he could tell fear from anxiety any day. This girl was anxious, and how could he blame her? But why wasn't she afraid?! It put a dent in his joy ride, frankly. His eyes rolled back to the abyss in front of him, glowed by some unearthly force, his ethereal glow that all poltergeists, undead, and ghostly apparitions had naturally.

Lydia didn't take notice, as her eyes avoided the thing next to her and looked upon the objects that were somehow lit up in a place that held no fire, or light source whatsoever. Last time she knew, it was on the edge of the middle of the night, and it was a new moon night. No light at all…

She glanced over to the creature floating next to her, with false fear in her eyes. She wanted to lead the creature on, to see if she could find a weak spot, anything to avenge her father, who almost died of some sickness thanks to this creep. She then took notice of the slight green glow that was just bright enough to light up his features, and to give it a certain glow that would make a normal human shiver in terror. She was just fascinated by it, how…how deadly vu it looked.

She almost smiled in wonder, when she caught herself, and pushed back fear onto her face. She bit her lip and then looked down at the floor. Not the time, or the moral, to be fancying the creep. Beetlejuice noticed the slight changed and he smirked, chuckling. She was sliding right into his hands, it was too easy. But yet…He glanced over at a shift in the mirrors that decorated the hallways, and saw a skeleton walking in Beetlejuice's reflection. He grunted and rolled his eyes, trying to ignore Jacque's motions to talk to the girl walking by him.

Beetle juice grunted and rolled his eyes, and she looked up at him, her eyes trying to portray disgust, but was speckled with a hint of curiosity. Beetlejuice noticed the new found attention and glared at her, and she returned the look, and then crossed her arms, crinkling her nose. He chuckled and then turned away, watching in front of him. "You better like it here babes." He croaked emotionlessly. In the corner of his eye Jacques slapped his skull with his bony fingers in annoyance.

"Oh, I will. I'll like it here just to spite you." Lydia spat out, turning her head away from the mirrors and glared at the ground. Beetlejuice cackled.

"Feisty." He said breathlessly, amusement in his voice. "Fine babes, you can explore the castle as you wish." He smirked, but then quieted down, and became serious. "But not the west wing babes." He said, staring intensely in front of him.

Lydia raised her eyebrow, and looked up at him. "What's in the west wing?" she asked curiously.

Beetlejuice snarled and stiffened up, a couple spikes lurching out of his back, and pointed dangerously at Lydia. "It's forbidden babes. Drop it." He said coldly, and she did as she was told. Beetlejuice sighed raspy, and then inverted the spikes. He shook himself once, and then walked up to a door in the east wing. "So, babes, what's your name?" He asked, glancing at her as she stepped up to the door.

Lydia eyed him warily, and bit her lip. "L…Lydia…" She gripped at the door, and tried to open it, if his hand wasn't in the way. She glared at him, as he only looked away, and tried to act coy.

"Oh, Lydia, eh?" he said, buffing his fingers lightly, eyeing the red tips with a smirk. She groaned, not wanting to play his game. "So, Lyds, you must be starving." Lydia groaned again, and turned to him.

"Not really."

"Oh, starving you say?" Lydia almost chuckled at his faltering smoothness, but kept herself in check. She raised an eyebrow, as green eyes flickered at her. "What do you say to dinner Lyds?"

"Uh, no." Lydia stared at him, and he started to falter, tripping up his Sauvé routine that he knew oh so well before his current state. He lifted his hand away and coughed into it, and his eyes hardened. He looked at her as she opened the door and walked into her room.

"Well you're going anyways babes. I tried to be the nice guy, but you had to be difficult, didn't you?" he snarled, and it was Lydia who faltered that time. She looked down, a deep sadness radiating from her. He sneered at her. "You will join me for dinner babes." And with that, he slammed the door in her face, and then stormed off.

Lydia bit her lip and looked at the floor, gripping her wrist tightly. That arrogant thing. He was horrid. Disgusting, cruel, lithesome, and worst of all, he mood swung worse than her! One minute he was almost killing her father, the next he was taking pity on her, the next he was hitting on her, the next he was…

She started to shake her head. That glow…the glow that made her heart lull into a false comfort. She was completely disgusted with herself! How could she even be comfortable around a thing like him! He was killing her father, and he was holding her captive! No moral person would do that!

She screamed out in anguish, and then walked over to the over the top bed, complete with canopy and comforter. She flopped onto the bed back-side and then stared up into the ceiling. More or less the ceiling. It was then that she noticed that the room was so much darker without the green glow to keep her warm…


	6. The Plan

**Author's note:** Hello my lovelies. Fresh off the press, here's another chapter. I'll try to get as much of this story as I can done before my boyfriend comes out on the thirteenth. Oh yeah, that's right, my boyfriend's coming out here on the 13th, two days before my birthday! *parties hard*

Next week is going to be kind of hectic, since it's going to involve my mom helping me make my room ready for my boyfriend, who's coming out for two months. Oh yeah, life is good baby! Ho yeah!

I'll probably get a couple more chapters out before my birthday, hopefully. I would like to thank my usual reviewers, Arlequina3000 and K. -I love you two so much you have no idea- and my anonymous reviewer. Whoever you are, I love ya and I hope you keep in touch with me, to let me know you're still out there and haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, or something like that.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice, or the characters that are in it. But characters that are mine (Lance and Elliot) are strictly mine. Do not use them, or I will find you. Anyways, onto the story!

**The Beauty and The Beetle  
**

**Ch. 6: The Plan**

---

Snow blew fiercely and suddenly through the dark and cold night. Swirls of iced air followed a huddled man into a local eatery, which was the hot spot of Peaceful Pine's youth. The man stumbled into the eatery, ignoring the cheers and laughter surrounding a certain moping youth and his rambunctious short brother. Lance was stomping around, trying to get everyone riled up with good cheer, hoping that it would reflect in his brother, who was younger than him by a year, surprisingly.

Lance sighed as he looked over the almost pathetic sight in front of him. The air was warm, inviting, and many teens from their school talked and laughed amongst themselves, asking Vince to join in with them. The three blonds were huddled next to him, swooning over Vince as they tried to cling to him and win his adornment for their own. Lance chuckled dryly; those girls were gold diggers, nothing else. Then his eyes wandered over to Vince, and he felt his heart break. Vince was paying no mind to anyone else, except the woman that ruled his heart and soul, Lydia. Vince pulled his arms away from the girls, not even knowing they were there, and he rested his head on that hand, while the other gripped the drink at his reach.

Lance sighed. Ever since Vince laid eyes on the not-interested girl, he became different. Less jaded then he naturally was, that's for sure, but he drew into himself, and he shrugged off everyone, but Lance. Lance hated when his brother thought of her, that woman with the spider-like features. Dainty and long. Almost like a daddy long leg. He hated those things, and he hated that girl. But he loved his brother more, and would do anything to win over what his brother most desired.

And what Vince desired most right now, was spider Lydia.

He shook away from his thoughts and pushed on the large, goofy smile that made his brother somewhat smirk, and walked over to the center of the crowd, pushing away the blonds that went into panic mode instantly. Vince looked at his brother, out of his thoughts for the first time that night.

"Lance, she shut me out. What do I do Lance?" Vince asked, his voice sounding lost. Vince resembled a lost puppy, and Lance almost lost his smile. Lance just smiled through, chuckling lightly.

"She didn't shut you out Vince. Her hand must have slipped on the door knob, and she accidently let you slip. All a big misunderstanding bro." Lance said cheerfully, patting Vince on the back. Vince's eyes sparkled, with relief and determination. Lance frowned inwardly. He hated lying to his brother, but if it made him happy, then so be it.

"Want another soda Vince?" one of the boys asked, patting Vince on the back and smirking at him. Vince nodded, and all the girls started to squawk, trying to get Vince a new soda first. Lance rolled his eyes, and then smirked at Vince before he noticed. Vince smiled back lightly.

Lance watched as all the girls left, leaving just the boys, who started to talk amongst themselves about the girls. Lance turned back to Vince, who started to turn inwardly again, his mind drifting. Lance grunted. "Come on Vince, cheer up!" Lance cried, shaking Vince from his thoughts. "You're out with all your friends, in a place that loves you. Liven up!"he said, standing up on the seat and held his hand out to Vince, who just stared at it. Lance sighed and dropped his hand. "You're everyone's favorite guy, everyone's awed and inspired by you! Men want to be like you, and women want to be with you! You're handsome, smart, and you can get everything you want!" Lance cheered, catching the attention of the whole eatery.

Vince looked away, resting his head on his hand. "All but Lydia."

"Psh! Who cares about her! No one but you, and you're dwindling on the past! So what if she rejected you? You've got her ten-fold at your disposal here! Cheer up Vincy, you've got a life of luxury." Lance said, trying to persuade his brother, when Vince slammed his fists down on the table. The eatery went silent, as Vince stood up with something in his eyes that Lance saw rarely, if ever.

"You want me to give up on Lydia? Lydia, my dream girl? The one that makes me get out of bed, and actually look forward to the day? Yes, she may ignore my presence, but she's beautiful, and I know that once I have her, that everything will be like they are in the stories." Vince swooned, and Lance sighed, and rested his hand on his forehead.

"She's the one thing you can't have though!"

"Be that as it may, she's still the woman for me, I can feel it. And I will get her at any cost. Even if I have to lock her father up, even if I have to get rid of anyone who stands in my way, I will get her." Vince said darkly, and Lance felt a shiver down his spine. Vince was 100% serious.

Then the door slammed open, and a familiar man stumbled in, hunched over and coughing hoarsely. All eyes were on him. "Charles?" the cashier said, and Vince gasped.

"Mr. Deetz?" Lance asked.

"Please, please help…" Mr. Deetz wheezed, stumbling forward and looking around frantic and frightened. "I need your help." He gripped one of the chairs. "He's got her…got her locked up!" he looked around wide eyed, knowing all ears were listening. "In the dungeon!"

"Who?" one of the boys asked.

"Lydia! We must go save her!" he yelled out, stumbling towards Vince and Lance, who just watched him. "We have to go now, not a minute to lose!" Vince's eyes narrowed.

"Lydia…woah. She wouldn't go into a dungeon. Who's got Lydia locked in a dungeon anyways? Who's even got access to one of those creations?" Vince asked, eyeing the man stumbling before him.

"A…a creature like no one has seen before. He's a giant beast one minute, a snake the next, a-"that was when everyone started laughing, and he looked around in fear. The men started to taunt Mr. Deetz, and he agreed franticly. Vince and Lance looked at each other, smirking at each other. Vince then looked back at Mr. Deetz.

"Alright Deetz, we'll help you get your daughter back." Vince said kindly, and Mr. Deetz looked at him with joy.

"Oh thank you Vincent! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Mr. Deetz cried out with joy, and Vince suddenly became uncomfortable with the man that was being dragged out. Vince and Lance watched as Mr. Deetz was chucked out into the cold, and they looked at each other again, Lance noticing Vince's discomfort.

Vince leaned back in his seat, and interlaced his fingers together, thinking deeply. Lance raised his eyebrow in questioning, and then looked at his brother. "What's on your mind Vince?" Lance asked as everyone started to go about their laughs around them.

"Well...That was Lydia's father…and his sanity isn't quite there. To think of such an obscure thing, he must not be all there, right?" Vince asked, taking note of Lance's nod. "Well I have an idea, to win Lydia over…" Vince then looked at Lance, who hid his flinching sneer. Vince waved his brother to lean closer, and Vince whispered his plan into Lance's ear.

---

Meanwhile, Lydia was laying on her bed, noticing the stars lighting her room just enough for her to see the bare outlines of the room. There was a tapping on her door, and she bit her lower lip. She dare not speak, lest her voice reveal how sad she really was. The sight of her father sick, being taken forcefully against his will, and her not even getting to say goodbye…it was finally getting to her. She tried to promise herself that she wouldn't cry, that she would be strong for the both of them, but whenever she would close her eyes, she would feel her tears growing under the lids. She didn't even notice the tears that leaked from the sides of her eyes-she was too caught up in her own mind.

There was another tap on the door, growing louder, and she pulled herself outside of her mind. Lydia sat up and then walked over to the door, trying to avoid the things that were on the floor. She hoped that she was going the right way, when she noticed a thin line of eerie light from under the doorway. She opened it, and looked around. She noticed a faint light coming from below her, and she noticed the rose colored spider the size of a basketball, not including the head or appendages, walk into her room with another spider the size of a tennis ball following the bigger of the two.

The spider was balancing a tea tray on its backside, and then finally noticed the eerily soft glow that emanated from the two creatures. They glowed something else then the creature from before did. They didn't have the almost toxic colored glow, but they had a softer, dust rose glow that seemed to light up the room barely.

Lydia was slightly startled; not by the fact that they were spiders. After what had happened up in the dungeon, she wasn't really surprised by anything right now. No, she was more surprised by the fact that they too, had a glow. She thought that maybe it was a fluke she saw with that one jerk. But at least now she knew she wasn't crazy like she thought she always was.

She backed up into a closet, which popped open and a skeleton floated out, telling her to be careful. It had a glow too-a light blue glow. Lydia put her hand to her head, and sat back on her bed. She was going to faint, or something.

"Woul'ya lika spotta tea deary?" The bigger spider said, walking up to Lydia with the smaller spider. Lydia eyed the whole thing, and nodded absentmindedly. The spider seemed to smile, and she grabbed the tray from her back, and then prepared a cup of tea, the little spider watching Lydia with awe. The skeleton seemed to smile and float over to Lydia, gently sitting down next to the startled girl.

"~I know that this seems a little odd~" The skeleton said, her voice eerily angelic. "~but I know you will like it here~" The skeleton said gently, resting a light hand on Lydia's shoulder.

"Tha's right dearie, bu' ya'no mastah Beetlejuice is only tryin' to be sincere." The spider coo'd, and handed the tea over to the little spider, who took it and crawled to Lydia, and handed the tea to her from her lap.

"Oh…um..thanks…" Lydia said gently, taking the tea. The little spider smiled bashfully.

"Tha' was real brave miss." Ginger said, putting things in order on the tray. "Stan'in' up to mastah Beetlejuice." Lydia smiled sadly, gripping the cup gently.

"Thank you…but I feel so hopeless now. I know I saved my father, but I still feel so useless…" Lydia said sadly, and the little spider looked at Lydia sadly. He then hugged what he could of Lydia.

"~Cheer up miss, it will be all right.~" The skeleton said, her voice echoing sadly, as she put a hand on Lydia's shoulder. The spider then cheered up, and smiled.

"Wha' do ya do miss? I'm sure we gat somethin' here tha' will meet yer fancy!" Ginger asked cheerfully, and Lydia eyed the spider curiously.

"I…I do photography."

"Oh! Well tha' mastah has loads o' cameras! I'll see wha' I can do!" Ginger smiled at Lydia, who looked at the spider confused. "Bu' until then, I need to sen' this youngin off to bed. Ta ta!" Ginger said, as she placed the tray back onto her back, and walked out of the door. The little spider waved bye, and followed after his mother.

Lydia watched as the two left, and she lay back on the bed, sighing. The skeleton smiled and floated up into a standing position. "~You must be uncomfortable to sleep in those clothes.~" She said, looking at the evening wear that Lydia still had on from earlier that day; they had been dirtied up a bit. Lydia propped herself onto her elbows and watched as the skeleton looked through her closet.

"Are you…one of my skeletons in the closet?" Lydia asked, slowly catching onto the workings of the castle. The skeleton looked back at her, and she laughed.

"~My name is Elliot, miss. And I am not your skeleton, I am one of master's many skeletons.~" Elliot said distantly, as she turned her attention back to the closet. Lydia bit her lip gently.

"Lydia." The skeleton tilted her head curiously, and then smiled.

"~Nice to meet you Lydia.~"

"I'm comfortable." Elliot stopped, still turned to the closet. "These are my last clothes from home after all… and besides, I'm not comfortable wearing what…that thing…has ownership over." Lydia said coldly, and Elliot sighed wistfully.

"~Be that as you wish miss Lydia, but he's not that bad of a man, even if he makes himself out to be one.~" Elliot said, and floated back into the closet. It closed behind her gently.

There was another knock on the door, and Lydia turned to the door. She stood and walked over to the door, opening it to find a person similar to the jerk from earlier, but with a weaker composure. The glow about him was different too. It was green, but not the toxic green that came from her captive. It was more of an apple green; a sour looking green that wasn't as sour. She looked at him curiously, and he waved feebly.

"Yes?" Lydia asked, her voice echoing a sort of sadness. The person before her shifted, not taking note of the sound in her voice.

"Master wants to speak with you."


	7. Reasoning

**Author's note:** Hello my lovely readers. Sorry for the long wait, but this does show that I have not forgotten about this story. I love this story, but my boyfriend has been playing Starcraft on this little baby.

My laptop can't handle games that well. When it gets games on it, it does things that it normally doesn't do, like crash, or go haywire.

I've explained this to him multiple times that my laptop is not made for games.

My boyfriend continuously rides my laptop, with game play.

This causes my laptop to hate itself.

This causes me to not update and get mad that he spends most of the day on the laptop instead of with me.

Yarg. -end of mini rant-

Anyways, here's my asap update, nice and short (compared to the other chapters.). Thank you for the review anonymous reader and K.A. Davidson, I loves you both.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the show Beetlejuice. If I did then wondrous things would happen, with many things. And I would buy the original voice actors. Or something like that.

Now without further ado, another chapter of:

**The Beauty and the Beetle  
**

**Ch. 7: Reasoning**

---

Three being were waiting in the room which was previously discovered by an elderly blond man, who was unfortunately taken to the dungeons. The fireplace was blazing with heat that would give none of them real comfort, only a false sense of security that they knew when they were of the physical and humane.

Beetlejuice hovered across from one end to another, starting to make an ectoplasmic dent into the floor, snarling as his dirtied blond locks hid his blazing toxic green eyes. His hands were clenched together behind his back, as he hunched over and stared at the ground. The other two, a certain French skeleton and rose spider, sat on the mantle of the fire place, watching him in bemusement.

"Where is she?" Beetle juice snarled, gripping his hands tighter to the point that, if he could bleed he would. He looked up at his two servants, his eyes glowing brighter more than ever. Jacques and Ginger shivered in fear and huddled closer to each other.

"W-well ya havta undastand mastah, she has no famalie anymore." Ginger said nervously. Jacques cleared his supposed throat and looked at Beetlejuice.

"Master, have you realized that this girl can possibly break the spell?" Jacques said, watching Beetlejuice's eyes flicker to realization.

Beetlejuice loosened up a little, looking at the ground again. "Of course I have…what type of idiot would I be if I didn't bonehead."

"Good! So she falls in love with you, and you fall in love with her, and presto! The curse will be broken!" Jacques cheered and Ginger clapped happily as Jacques waved his hands about to demonstrate his idea. Beetlejuice growled raspy and yanked out one of Jacques' ribs. Jacques then tumbled to pieces and Beetlejuice cackled. He then became serious and stepped on the skull that tumbled to his feet.

"It's not that easy bonehead. It's not like…" There was a knocking at the door, and Ginger and Beetlejuice whipped around to look at the doorway. Beetlejuice snarled as it was only Will at the door. "What do you want you sniveling-" he rasped heavily as Will was shaking lightly.

"Hehe…uh…good evening…" Will fiddled with his hot pink glasses. Beetlejuice rolled his eyes.

"Well?" He waved his hands for Will to continue.

"Well…uhuh…actually she uh…eh…" he giggled nervously and Beetlejuice gripped his hands.

"Just get on with it!" Beetlejuice snapped and Will stumbled.

"She's-not-going-to-talk-to-you." Will said quickly, shaking.

Beetlejuice started to shake in rage and started to form into a black and white striped beast. He howled out a loud "What?!" and burst through the doorway, running up the stairway and to Lydia's room, leaving deep scratch marks in the dusty marble floors. Puffs of dust rose up where he ran, and he glared at the door he was fast approaching. He then landed, full weight against the door, and started to bang on it.

"I thought I told you to come down to talk." Beetlejuice growled into the door, his beast form still growing and heaving in rage.

Lydia looked at the doorway, the toxic green glow glowing brighter and greener. Lydia blinked and heard his demand, and she glared at the doorway. "I don't want to talk to you."

Beetlejuice started shake. "You'll come out here or…or…I'll open these doors myself!" He yelled out, gripping the door handle. The three servants watched, bemused.

Jacques sighed. "I could be wrong master, but that may not be the best way to win the girl over." He said, his accent thick. Beetlejuice stared at Jacques dryly, and then took a deep breath, his form starting to resemble his usual one.

"She's being difficult though." He mumbled, trying to win with his logic.

"Be gentle, attempt to be nice." The other two tried to reason with him. Beetlejuice sighed again, taking his normal form.

He stared at the door. "Will you come down to dinner so that we can talk?" He asked calmly.

"No thank you!" Lydia yelled out, and Beetlejuice started to twitch, gripping his hands.

"That's it! That's it!" He cried out, and his servants cried out for him to stop, knowing full well what he would do.

Beetlejuice started to float through the door, and pop the top half of his body through the door. Lydia gasped and looked at Beetlejuice, the whole room glowing with his glow. "Hey babes." Lydia and Elliot glared at Beetlejuice.

"Get out!" Lydia screamed out.

"When I say we're talking, I mean we're talking."Beetlejuice continued, ignoring Lydia's outrage.

"I said GET OUT!" Lydia screamed, chucking a pillow at him, which went through his body, and slid down the door. Lydia huffed and got up, walking over to him. He smirked in victory. She yanked open the door, and he stood in front of her, solid, and he smirked at her.

"Now, about that talk-" He was interrupted with a loud slap across his face. She then shoved him down the stairs. She then slammed the door before she saw him in a pile at the bottom of the stairs. He glared at the doorway.

"She…does not leave her room for anything, not even food." He snarled. Jacques and Ginger laughed lightly, and Will glared at the two. Beetlejuice then phased through where he fell, and rose up through the floor. He then floated to his room, trying to push back his anger. The three looked at each other worriedly.

Will sighed lightly. "Ok Jacques, you guard the door, make sure she does not leave her room until he calms down. Ginger, you get back to your kitchen…" Will told the two, and they followed their commands.

---

There was a loud crash, and booms, as a bleak and trashed room became more trashed and bleak. A toxic glow lit up the room as bright as day, and at the center of the glow, there was a loud gurgling yell. The pale blond in black and white stripes took out his anger out on the items in his room that were intact…was intact. "What does that wench want me to do? Beg for her to come out?!" He snarled and threw more things. When Beetlejuice had nothing left, he stood in the middle of his room, more destroyed than ever, panting lightly. He growled, grabbed the nearest thing- a mirror- and chucked it at the wall. It crashed into a million pieces.

He stared at it for a few seconds, his glow starting to fade to its normal size, and the mirror started to piece itself back together in a reverse crashing. The mirror slid back up the wall, and then flew back into his hand. He looked it over, his eyes calmed into its usual eerie green, and the mirror started to flicker into a picture that showed a sort of portal. Colors of deep purple and deep reds swirled inwardly to a black abyss.

Beetlejuice sighed and leaned against a wall, sliding down it with his back. He looked into the mirror, starting to float above the ground. "Hello." The mirror droned monotonously, like a bored secretary. "Who would you like to be directed to see sir?" The mirror droned on, the colors swirling continuously.

"The girl. Show me the girl that's in the room." Beetlejuice said, gripping the mirror tighter.

"Right away sir." The mirror droned and then flickered like a television on the fritz. Red sparks flew from the mirror and then it started to hum. Beetlejuice rolled his eyes and then watched as the image he was waiting for came into focus.

---

Lydia and that skeleton Eliot sat on the bed, a light glow coming from Eliot.

"~Oh Lydia, Master is not so bad. He might be rather leech like, and he may do things that may not seem sane to others, but he truly is a nice person once you look past all that. Why don't you give him a chance, and get to know him?~" Eliot cooed, trying to comfort Lydia.

Lydia would have nothing to do with her words.

"Ugh, I don't want to give him a chance. I don't even want to be near him. I would rather starve in here then even think of that thing again." Lydia said, turning away. "He took away everything I knew Eliot…He took away my family." Lydia snarled, slamming her fists down on the bed.

Eliot looked at Lydia sadly. "~Oh dear…why don't you sleep? You're probably exhausted. It has been a long day."

"Don't treat me like some child…I stand behind what I say…I never want to see him again." Lydia turned away from her ghoulish companion.

---

Beetlejuice looked at the mirror sadly, and he turned it away when it flickered back to its original swirling color. He dropped it when it went completely black. "I thought so…babe'll never see me as anything more than a freak…" Beetlejuice slumped back onto the ground, and rolled onto his back. His glow was down to a minimum, just reaching a half inch past his skin. "man, I could go for a beetle…"

The rose that sat in the corner of the room, which sat fully bloomed dropped its first petal, starting the beginning of the end.


	8. Just a little quarl, right?

**Author's note:** Oh god, finally an update. We're getting somewhere with this. Sorry to make a lot of you wait, but because of reasons at home, updates are slow. School's starting in a few weeks, so updates might still be slow. And to top that off I'm trying to get my portfolio together so that I can get into an art school in the spring, or at least get an apprenticeship or two possibly going. Gah, a lot going on, but I'm still going to try and keep writing in my schedule.

Oh, also, I'm planning on writing another Beetlejuice fan-fiction. It's going to be original story, so I might be putting that up soon.

**Author's note:** Oh my, so much love for this story. 3 Thank you's go out to the following reviewers: Cybernetic Mango (sorry dear, had to make Vince the bad guy, it fit him in this.), reader, Silverwolf407, mydirt09 (oh, I will have Juno in this, she's going to play an important part. I just don't know how soon she'll show up.), BeetleBend, Dragon-Girl-Begins777, Mitsumistar.

Wow that was a mouthful. Well anyways, onto the story!

**The Beauty and the Beetle  
**

**Ch. 8-** Just a little fight, right?

---

The hallway was a quiet and lonely one, every tiny sound echoing through it, multiplying tenfold. Large brown eyes peaked through the crack that was made at her doorway, as Lydia made sure it was clear for her to make her escape. She was merely going to go and check on her father, even if it meant breaking her promise. She wanted to say goodbye to him, along with the Maitlands. They were the closest thing to a family she had, besides her father, and she didn't want them to fear the worst, even if it was coming true in front of her eyes.

It wasn't merely losing her father now, it was losing her whole life, having everything turned upside down, and she wouldn't have any of it without a fight.

Lydia slowly crept out of her room, long after Eliot had gone back into her overgrown and misshapen closet type room. She looked around, holding a deep red shawl to her dainty pail frame. She brushed back a black lock from her plane of sight, and looked about for the eerie toxic glow- or any glow that came from the residents.

She quickly, but silently, went down one of the halls, and through another doorway, glancing back before she made her final leap of certain doom.

She walked down the long staircase, looking for the exit, when she noticed an eerie glow coming from behind her. A thin hand grabbed her through the shawl, and she stiffened up. She looked back and looked into the eyes of death…She blinked in confusion. 'Death lives in these halls?' She asked herself mentally, and then she shook her head.

She looked again and saw just a skeleton staring down at her. "Deadly Vu…" She mumbled to herself, fascinated by the animated skeleton in front of her.

"Mademoiselle," he asked in a thick, cheerful voice. "If zou are hungary, zen let me escourt zou to zee kitchon." He said kindly, and Lydia could only nod in astonishment. She was slowly led by a skeleton two heads taller than herself, into a room which she had overlooked in her frantic search for the exit.

---

"If mastah doesn't learn to control his tempah, then he'll never find what he needs." Ginger said tiredly, and eyed Will as he rubbed the bridge of his nose through his black-and-white sleeve.

"But Ginger, we can't expect more of the master, he's already trying his best."

"Well I think you ain't giving him enough credit Will!" Ginger said crossly, shaking a nearby wooden spoon at the green-skinned man. "If you keep on thinkin that of him, then he will _never_ change!" Ginger practicly yelled out, but soon quieted down when she saw one of her kids fidget in their sleep. Ginger covered her mouth, but then quickly put it down. "I swear Will, you have some _nerve_."

It was at that time that Jacques cleared his throat, and rested his hand back on Lydia's shoulder. Lydia just watched the bickering with wide eyes. Ginger smiled and Will just raised an eyebrow. "Oh! Lydia! So glad to see ya out of that dusty ol' room!" Ginger cried out, Will rolled his eyes.

"Well yes. What can we do for you miss?" he asked nasally. Lydia looked around the room in awe. It was a magnificent kitchen, now on the verge of decay. She then looked at the three, blinked, and cleared her own throat.

"Oh no, nothing for me-" her stomach begged to differ, practically roaring from lack of food. She blushed from embarrassment as everyone stared at her stomach. "O-on second thought, some food would be great…" she said, shifting uncomfortably. Jacques smiled and nodded, walking over to the oven. Lydia raised an eyebrow as she watched the skeleton.

Ginger noticed the confused look. "Jacques used to be the master's personal chef, before the incident, so Jacques cooks really good food!" Ginger said, praising the skeleton. Jacques blushed and smiled in appreciation as he started to cook. Lydia looked at Ginger curiously.

"Incident?" she asked Ginger.

"Oh well around 300 and some odd years ago, there was this old lady that came to the master for assistance and-"she eeped as she dodged a pan. She glared at Will, who glared back.

"Don't be a gossip Ginger."

"Yes Ginger, those things should be left to master Bee-atle-juice to explain." Jacques said, flipping a pancake in the skillet. He walked the plate over to the table, and Lydia sat down, and started to eat. She stared in amazement at the pancakes.

"Wow, these are really good." Lydia said, and Jacques smiled.

"Yes…now, we haven't had our introductions, have we?" Will asked, as Lydia looked up. "My name is Will, the skeleton is Jacques, and you already know Ginger." Will said, gesturing to each of them.

"And your name, miss?"

"Oh, it's Lydia." Lydia said, finishing the pancakes.

It was about that time that Beetlejuice floated down through the ceiling in curiosity. "Hey, bonehead, what smells so good-"he flinched when his eyes laid upon the small woman sitting at the table. She did the same when she saw the room light up with the familiar toxic green glow. She found it kind of odd how his glow pushed everyone else's out of the spot light when he entered a room. In fact she hardly even noticed everyone else's glow; they were just bright enough to light up the room naturally.

His tantrum pulled her out of her thoughts.

"What is this?! She doesn't want dinner with _ME_, but yet she'll eat with you bozos!?" He screamed, flailing around. The three of them just quieted down, taking the abuse.

Lydia twitched as she was completely ignored. She stood up quickly, glaring at the poltergeist. "Well excuse me if I don't think dining with you would be the most appealing thing at the moment!"

Green eyes snapped to her angry form. "You have no choice babes! I specifically said that you dine with me, or you don't eat at all! My castle, my rules!"

"Well maybe I don't want to be in your castle!" The three servants 'ooh'd, but they immediately quieted when they got Beetlejuice's death glare.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have come here in the first place!"

"Well maybe I should leave, if I'm going to be treated like this!"

"Well like they say, babes, if you can't take the heat, then stay out of the sauna!"

"Well fine then, I can't take the steam you make anyways!" Lydia then stormed out.

Everyone stared at where Lydia stood, when there was a loud crash of doors slamming shut.

"Huh…she took it seriously."

"**GO GET HER!**"


	9. And she says he's got moodswing problems

**Author's note:** Wow, I haven't uploaded anything new for this in a long time...Bad me. Sorry guys, been really busy with life, and problems in it. School's starting up next monday, so I don't know when I'll have time to work on my stories. I'll try and fit them into my schedule though.

I have another Beetlejuice fanfiction up and barely going called Lithium. If you guys could share the love with that story, it would be great. I've also got another fanfiction, but it's not Beetlejuice related, so I don't know how interested you guys would be with that.

This chapter was kind of a struggle to write up, since I haven't been really 'Beauty and the Beetle'y. I managed though, for you guys. Huh, only one reviewer. Well that makes sence, since I've been a slacker. See what slacking gets you kids? A big pile of un-recognition. Well I'd like to thank my one reviewer, Mitsumistar, for reviewing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Beetlejuice. If I did I probably would sink it into the ground, because I'm a bad little slacker. :

Not much else to say, so let us get on with the next episode of:

**The Beauty and the Beetle  
**

**Ch 9-** And she says he has mood swing problems.

---

Lydia road swiftly through the forest, thick with the chill of a sudden winter storm. Her wide eyes raced around the forest, along with Tillent's, watching for any tell tale signs of intruders; even though they couldn't hear anything but the rush of wind and snow, until it was too late.

With snarls, they drew closer, sizing up their soon to be meal. They howled at Tillent, who reared up onto his two hind legs, throwing the small frame of Lydia's off of him and wrapping his reins around a low tree branch. The wolves circled the horse twice their size, tauntingly, snapping at his hooves and legs, trying to confuse the poor creature. One of the wolves jumped Tillent, but was quickly smashed in the head by Lydia, who wielded a nearby tree branch in hopes that they could survive this.

She was scared though, and a little disappointed in herself. She acted rashly, and this was where it got her; in the jaws of furry death.

Her eyes twisted and turned, as she pressed her back against a frantic Tillent's side. She tried to wave them off with physical threats, with her rather giant tree branch, but that would not do. A gleam of hunger shined in the wolves eyes, as they neared even more so.

Then, out of the flurry of snow and panic, there was a shine, as if the star of hope was breaking through the storm. Well, it would have been the star of hope, if not for the fact that it was a sickly toxic green, that shined upon everything like a disease. The light grew brighter, and thicker, as the storm seemed to stop temporarily, in a 20 foot radius. Just big enough to encompass the girl, the horse, and the now trembling wolves.

Smoke then started to flurry out of the green light, which colored every creatures features, and there was a low grumbling. The wolves started to whine, and scoot back up, terrified now. The smoke billowed, and then there came a face out of the toxicity, and it then morphed into black and purple, with green-yellow orbs that pierced into the wolves eyes. They were stuck in fear, not able to move. The smoke stared at the wolves, and then shrilly screamed, becoming larger and hovering over the wolves.

They fled instantly, whimpering loudly.

The smoke then cackled and then quickly morphed into a life sized cloud form of Beetlejuice. He grabbed his sleeve's edge, and then tugged at it- the excess smoke jumping off and dissipating to show the smirking black-and-white-striped blond. He then casually dusted his suit off. "Now come on babes, am I the ghost with the most? Or am I the ghost with the most?" He praised as he turned to Lydia, who was calming Tillent down.

Lydia just rolled her eyes, keeping her back to Beetlejuice, enjoying the lack of rushing snow in the little vicinity that shrunk to seven feet. No rushing storm to interrupt the awkwardness that these two wouldn't share for long. "So you're a ghost now? I thought…well, you never told me what you were, I just assumed that you were the rear end of a donkey." She said coldly as she rested her hand on Tillent's nose, calming him down instantly.

Beetlejuice just stared at her, raising an eyebrow. "Come on babes, no need to keep it pg. We are adults here after all."

"Well geez, and after all this time I thought I was talking to a child. A very perverted child, but a child none the less."

"Oh come on. Would a child have this much charisma and luck with the ladies?" he said, grinning and nudging her gently with his elbow.

She turned to him, and stared at him dryly. "What charisma? What luck?" She said monotoniously.

He then groaned and then leaned back, pulling at his hair. "COME ON!" he screeched into the night, and then whipped around, throwing his arms out in front of himself and crouching down, staring at her in amazement. "I'm trying here babes! I'm really trying! Give me a fucking break! You've been hassling me from day one," he said, waving a fist at her with his index finger up, knuckles to her. "If you weren't such a hard ass, then maybe-"

"Maybe what?!" she snapped, turning to him with her fists at her side, staring at him angrily. "Maybe I'd be an easy catch or something? That I'd melt to your charm and whit like some easy Mademoiselle that I see every day in my town? Ready to fling herself at the next male that smirked at her?!" She twitched, and after she saw him shift uncomfortably, not making eye contact, she roared and threw her hands over her head, screaming at the sky.

"I had dreams! I had something I wanted to do! I wanted to become a great writer, or become a great photographer! I wanted to see what was beyond the forest!" She said, almost cooing, if her voice was a shade less of rage. "BUT NO!" She screamed out again, then turned to him completely, pointing a finger at him. "Because of YOU HOLDING MY FATHER HOSTAGE, AND ALMOST KILLING HIM, you ass, I HAVE TO BE STUCK WITH A WOMANIZING. OVER EXCENTRIC. MOOD SWINGING. JACKASS LIKE YOU!" She screamed, shaking from anger.

Beetlejuice shifted nervously, and played with his fingers nervously, not making eye contact. "You're yelling."

"I AM NOT **YELLING**!"

Beetlejuice flinched, as if avoiding the devil himself. Her voice seemed to grumble a dark under-tone when she was angry…boy was she angry. Wait-womanizing? He looked at her to defend himself. "I am not a womanizer-eek!" he screeched a womanly screech, and then went back to looking at the ground, hiding behind his twitching hands.

Her eyes held the seventh realm of hell itself. "Not. A. Womanizer?" She said quietly. Too quietly. He nodded quickly, mentally scooting to the farthest back wall in his head, still avoiding her eyes as if life depended on it. "Not a womanizer?! Then what the hell was that crack at the door, when you first led me to my room?!" She said, waving her hands in astonishment.

He blinked and then looked at her. He lidded his eyes and stared at her dryly. "Uh. Babes. That's not womanizing. That's flirting." He croaked, and Lydia blinked, her anger immediately dissipated by the confusement that was thick in the air.

"No..womanizing is…when…" She then tried to piece it together in her own mind, it still racing from her sudden change of pacing.

A smirk then slowly slid onto his face, his lidded eyes watching her contently. "Do you even know the difference?"

Lydia shifted uncomfortably.

He smirked. She so didn't.

"Come on babes, you've had to had at least one boy friend…or girlfriend…hehe." He grinned to himself, and her anger switch was back on.

"You're so full of yourself!" she yelled, and then turned. "I'm leaving, even if it goes against my promise!" She said, walking over to Tillent.

Beetlejuice stared at her, and then reached out for her. "Wait, babes-"He said, as he touched her wrist lightly. She whipped it away instantly, and looked back at him angrily.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled at him.

That was about the time the snow caved from under her.

Beetlejuice reacted quickly, and grabbed her. Unfortunately he was taken down in her place, both of them sliding down the very steep hillside.

Then everything goes black.


	10. Exchange Of Words and A Surprise

**Author's note:** I finally got this chapter out. Sorry for the lack of updating guys, school has been odd. School and personal life. Hope you guys can forgive me. I should really focus on this, and finish it, before working on any of my other stories. I **will** finish this story though. I owe it to myself and to my readers. It's just going to be slow, so don't worry guys.

**Thanks to my reviewers:** Cybernetic Mango, Reader, DragonGamer0713, BeetleBend, mydirt09, and rubydesires. This chapter is dedicated to you guys, along with the previous reviewers. You guys gave me the will to write this. Thanks :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice, the series. I wish I did, but I don't.

Now, onto the next chapter of:

**The Beauty and the Beetle  
**

**Ch. 10:** Exchange of words and a Surprise

---

There was a hard knock that sounded through the dark air, shaking the air that drifted through the small, yet warm, log home. There was a gruff sound coming from one of the doorways in the small home, as a rather feminine being stumbled out of it, glancing back into the doorway briefly, only once. She brushed a curled brown lock off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear, as she stifled a yawn. "Go back to sleep Adam…" her voice drifted to the stirring man, who had half a mind to take the woman's advice.

She drifted to the source of the loud knocking, and rested her hand on the knob gently. With a jerk of a turn, she cracked the door open, pulling her gown closer to her form, not wanting any of her heat to leave into the cold of the night. Her eyes landed on a panicked Charles, his short blond hair ruffled with the same panic that was deep in his eyes. She gasped, noticing that he was practically frozen to death, his skin taking on a terrifying shade of purple.

Her lips tightened as she opened the door, feeling Adam's confusion on her back. She glanced back at him, revealing the frozen man. Adam bit his lip. "Barb…" he then went to go get Charles a warm blanket, as Barbara let him into their home. A thousand questions were buzzing through her head, especially when she saw how broken his eyes were.

She sighed desperately as Adam came back with a thick blanket. Barbara smiled at him, and then draped the thick wool around Charles, who didn't even seem to notice. She watched his warily, and went to the kitchen, to find anything that could warm the poor soul in the living room. Adam just stayed behind, to condole Charles, not liking the empty look in his eyes. He and Barbara both had a sinking feeling; as if they knew that whatever happened to Charles would shake them to their core.

After a few minutes of silence, the three of them sat in their respective seats, the faint glow of yellow making everything clear. Charles was in worse shape than they first thought. His skin wasn't quite purple anymore, but it was strongly blue, with deep rings of worry and guilt under his eyes. His lower lip quivered, as they cracked and lightly bled. His hands were gripping the arm rests tightly, for dear life, as his knuckles became whiter by the second. The worst of it all, though, was the deep fear and desperation in his eyes.

Barbara was the first to break the silence, not able to stand the intensity of this man anymore, and she rested her hand on his, making him jump back into reality. His eyes shifted to her, taking her in as if she were a stranger. Barbara suddenly didn't have a word to say, so Adam took his chance.

"Charles…" He started, with attention fully to him, with the same look of strangeness. He paused, considering the man in front of him again, but pressed. "What happened?"

Charles, at this point, seemed to sputter to life, flapping his mouth as if to say something, only to have nothing come. He stopped, and stared at the cup of tea that watched him intently, not judging him to be crazy, like those kids at the diner. He sighed deeply then, closing his eyes and finding the right words to say. He then looked at the two, his eyes shining. "He took her…he took Lydia from me…" he trailed off.

Adam and Barbara stiffened up, not liking how this would end.

---

There was a gravely groan through the snow. The snow storm had calmed to the point of where you could see twenty feet in front of you. The snow shifted as it lifted, a dark form under it. Brown eyes flicked around, wondering what just happened. With a quick shake, snow flew off Lydia. She sighed, running a hand through her hair, when she was shifted. She let out a small sound of alarm, and looked down, snow shifting under her.

She quickly brushed away the snow, showing a groaning Beetlejuice under her, a large stain of blood on his shirt growing larger. She gasped and shook him lightly, looking at him wide eyed. "Wake…wake up…Come on! Wake up! Don't quit on me…" she closed her eyes and started to rub the bridge of her nose, trying to remember his name. What was it…her eyes snapped open, and put her hands on his shoulders. "Beetle…beetlejuice…if that's right…wake up!" She yelled at him, causing him to stir. Green eyes turned up to brown ones, and a slow smirk grew onto his face.

"Hey there babes, you almost look worried." She growled and shook him lightly, glaring at him.

"Don't joke! You're bleeding!" She snapped, and he stiffened up, his eyes going from confusion, to amazement, to a stone cold seriousness.

"You're kidding…" he said slowly, when she grabbed his hand and put it on his chest, right where his heart would be. His eyes widened, and his lip tugged up into a sneer. "Well, shit, this ain't good…"

She glared deeply at him, and got up, looking around the flurry of snow. She sighed gently as she looked back down at him, noticing his eyes were flickering with consciousness. She kneeled down next to him and helped him up, gasping as she saw the big piece of jagged rock sticking out of his back, and she looked at him with worry. He glanced at her and sighed, closing his eyes and furrowing his eyebrows, phasing out of sight for a few seconds. Long enough for the rock to drop to the ground. Once he became visible though, he slumped, falling onto Lydia, and into unconsciousness.

---

There was a thick grunt, as a soft glow of red and orange came through his eyelids. There was something warm, and soft on his arm…and wet…wait…why wet? His eyes flickered open, to see Lydia's pale face inches away from his. He brought his brows together slightly, noticing her eyes focused downwards. He shifted and her eyes flickered up to meet his. A small smile rested on her lips, her eyes shining relief.

She pulled away, cloth in hand. It was stained a deep red…he pressed his brows together at this, concentrating on the rag. "Good, you're awake…" she said softly, as she went back to the bowl of water on the floor. It had a red tinge to it, becoming thicker with red as she sunk the rag into it. He blinked through his confusion, his mind blurry and thick with haze.

She then came back at him with a cleaned rag, dripping with water, and he stiffened, his mind clearing with red flags. "Woah, wait, get that thing away from me." He said, scooting back into his seat. Her smile dropped, and she became confused. She paused and looked at the rag, then at him, then back at the rag.

"What? Scared of a little water or something?" she asked, and smirked when he stiffened up. He glared at her. "Oh come on, it won't bite." She said as she scooted closer to him, and smirked as he practically wrestled with the chair for it to get out of the way. With his back turned to her she pressed the _hot _cloth against his skin, and he screamed.

With a smack of her wrist, the cloth went flying, and he turned to her instantly, anger in his eyes. Anger quickly filled her eyes as well. "Don't fucking do that!" he yelled at her, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well if you would hold still I'd be done already!"

"Well if you didn't run away you wouldn't have to do anything!"

"If you hadn't taken your anger out on me I wouldn't have run away!"

He paused to think of a reply…

"Well you should have eaten with me."

"Well you should learn to not be such an ass."

They didn't notice until now at how close their faces were to each other, and with a long pause they slowly pulled away from each other, turning back to their previous positions. Beetlejuice sitting in the chair casually, with a bleeding chest, and Lydia turned to the bowl with a new rag, mentally noting to grab the one stuck against the wall.

Lydia was the first to break the silence. "Thanks, by the way…" She said as she pressed the hot cloth against his chest, bare and bleeding, cleaning his wound. He winced, mumbled something about hating water, and raised an eyebrow at her. "For saving my life…" She drifted off, cleaning the rest of his wound and grabbing some gauze.

She silently wrapped his chest, tucking it when she was finished, ignoring his thoughtful eyes. He smirked, as if he was the greatest thing ever, and shrugged. "Ain't no problem babes. Just another day with-"He flinched at her sad glance. He fidgeted, and sighed heavily once she turned back to her task. He then grabbed her chin and gently tilted it upwards, both eyes meeting. "You're welcome babes." He said softly, letting go of her chin once he said so. He smirked at her, and she blushed lightly, noticing the soft toxic glow that filled the room, how it seemed to pulse…

---

Beetlejuice hovered along the hallways, hands tucked behind his back and his eyes burrowing into the carpet in thought. Jacques was walking along beside him, keeping the poltergeist company silently, as he usually liked, waiting for his thoughts to surface. Beetlejuice suddenly stopped, and so did the skeleton, watching Beetlejuice in anticipation. He just took to the habit of rubbing his chin in thought. After a long pause Beetlejuice finally looked at Jacques with a thought. "I'm not becoming whipped, am I?"

Jacques practically fell to pieces.

"Be-atle-juice!" The skeleton cried in outrage, hands balled at his hipbone. Beetlejuice just raised an eyebrow innocently.

"Whu?"

"You are not 'whipped' if you like a girl." Jacques said, sighing deeply.

Beetlejuice didn't buy it.

"Ah come on bonehead, I'm going soft. I'm actually being nice to the kid." He mumbled, and Jacques just shook his head.

"Be-atle-juice, being nice to her does not mean you are going soft. It just means you are starting to like her. And she is most definitely not a child. She is a fine young woman." Beetlejuice stiffened at this, and shifted uncomfortably, pushing off and floating with his legs tucked in.

"If ya say so bonehead." He mumbled, and Jacques's eye sockets seemed to brighten, a sly smile resting on his face.

"Aww, Master has a crush."

That little proclamation was dismissed with a quick swiping of his rib, and a cackle in the air as his bones scattered.

"That'll teach him who has a crush on who…" he mumbled as he threw the rib over his head, and stuck his hands into his pockets. That still didn't change the little flicker of warmth in his chest, which came to life whenever she smiled, or had concern for him in those big eyes of hers, like he actually mattered…damn it. He did have a crush.

He sneered at himself for not catching it sooner. And, damn it all, he wanted to give her something special. But what…

He caught a rose colored spider from the corner of his eye, and grabbed her. With a scream of surprise on her end, she was dragged along. "Mastah! Wha's going on?" She cried, finally getting enough sense to follow quickly.

"You know Lyds, right?"

"Lyds? Ya mean Lydia? Uh, ya, kinda."

"Tell me what ya know then legs."

"Oh, um…she likes ta take photahs."

He licked his lips in thought. Perfect.

"Go check on Lyds, Legs, it's almost dawn."

"R-right mastah."

"Oh, and tell her to go to the dining hall when she wakes up. I have a surprise for her."

"Um, alright mastah." She said, standing in a stupor.

He sneered and turned to her. "Did I stutter?"

"N-no sir!"

"Go now, before I eat you!"

"R-right away sir!" she scrambled to Lydia's room, ignoring the cackles that filled the hallway.


	11. The sparkle of her eyes

**Author's note:** Oh lord. It's been a month and this is all I have to show for it? No good no good. Sorry my friends, but at long last I finally got the time to write up another chapter! Hurrayyy! Old characters show up, along with our favorite uncle exorcist from the movie! _I can't tell you who, it's a surprise_. Next chapter I'm going to try and make extra long, and hopefully up soon. Maybe by next Friday, instead of another month. Also, I've been kinda sick, and having writers block, and playing Kingdom Hearts 1. It made me realize something...Beetlejuice should have been in that game, because, even though it's not a disney series or final fantasy, it still would have been a kick ass world of that game...I should make a game, like kingdom hearts, but with worlds that involve 80's-90's cartoon series and movie versions of those cartoons. It would be an awesome game...I would so buy that. Hehe...but anyways, aside from dreams that will never be reached...

Now, time to thank the reviewers. Boy there are a lot of you guys...thank youuuu. *teary eyes of joy* Thanks toooo BeetleBend, rubydesires, Cybernetic Mango, Reader, mydirt09 and Fanficaddicttion. I love you guys, and the miscellaneous watchers that never review. You guys make me feel warm and fuzzy inside too.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice in any sort of way. I own Lance, but that's about it.

Now, onto the next chapter of:

**The Beauty and The Beetle**

**Ch. 11**:The Sparkle of Her Eyes...

---

Meanwhile, while the antics of certain creatures of the night partook around a certain free spirit, siblings with hidden motives were shifted into gear in a dark room which seemed to be in the corners of nowhere.

Distant eyes grazed over determined ones, as a dull voice sounded out monotonously. "Lance." The voice called out, as both pairs of midnight blue orbs met each other. "Why are we in the depths of hell again?"

An aggravated sigh washed over the two, as the room became still. "You want to be with Lydia, right?" came a snap, and distant eyes sharpened into focus.

"Of course brother! More than anything in the world and as many worlds as possible! Ten times over in a blaze of a thousand suns could never-"

"Yeah, well this is going to help us. So be patient little brother." Lance sighed, flinching at the now sullen Vince, having been interrupted in the midst of his poetic confession.

That was about the time the two brothers noticed the stiff stale of the air, and how bitter it was to the senses. Lance shivered and pulled his winter jacket tighter to himself, teeth chattering. "When'd it get so cold?" he grumbled, eyeing the grayed stone of the walls, and the all around prison cell like manor the room had. Vince pulled his more eloquent black jacket closer, buttoning it up fully.

A chime caught their attention, and they both looked to the doorway, and eyed a rather large man dressed in fur and disappointments. Lance grinned at the large man; the only man richer than the Redevance family, the priest and all around nerve system of the town-Otho. He was never known by his family name, claiming that there were mix ups in that name that would dirty his abilities and reputation. No, the man in the fur robe; presumably minx's or winter fox's, practically built the town after the mayor had destroyed the only thing that made this town decent. When Otho had built the town back up from the haunches of its near death experience, they showered him in respect and gold. Lots of gold.

With a wiry, possibly sleazy smirk, Otho turned plotting eyes to the boys, half his age in the least. Lance laced his fingers together, watching the big man in the spotlight. "Father Otho, I have a proposition for you."

Otho raised an eyebrow, half turned away from the two, and rested a pudgy hand on his chin. "A proposition you say?" he said distantly, secretly intrigued.

"Yes, about the Deetz girl."

"Ah yes, the Deetz girl, the one your younger counterpart fauns over obsessively."

At this point, Vince started to space out, his eyes dilating in thought. Lance sighed.

"Yes, you are correct father. Her father, Chuck, came into the eatery earlier tonight, mumbling nonsense about something or another-"

"A monster it sounded like…" Vince added distantly.

"Right, a 'monster'." Lance air quoted, looking at Otho, who was now fully turned to the two and sitting down across from him. "Guy was half frozen, and scared out of his mind."

"…Lydia in a dungeon…" Lance turned to his brother, then shook his head, turning back to Otho.

"Father Otho, I was wondering if you could possibly…call for Chuck to be brought into your church, on a count of 'demonic possession' or what not."

"And why should I help you? You may be a Redevance, but you have no right to ask me such things, without something for me in return." Otho said with a scorn thick on his face, as he stood up.

"Who said I didn't have anything for you in return?"

Otho considered Lance in front of him.

"Continue."

Lance leaned back in his seat.

"If you do as I ask, and get Chuck into your church, then you might be able to expand on your territory."

Otho tapped his fingers together in thought.

"You know well I do not like being played."

"Don't consider this as being played, but as a way to practice your teachings to the masses, and to gain something greater."

Otho paused in thought.

"I will call a town meeting in two days time."

"No!" Vince suddenly spoke, shaking the other two from their mental chess game. He slammed his hands down on the wooden table, ignoring the sting of ice. "It has to be done immediately! I must have my Lydia back to me immediately!"

Otho stared hard at the brothers. "Or else none at all."

Lance stared at Vince. "If we don't do this now, then we won't be able to get another chance."

Vince quieted down, sinking back into his thoughts and mumbling things about Lydia and Chuck, and the strange monster.

Lance then looked at Otho. "Two day's time would be fine."

"Maybe I should make it three, so that your brother can squirm in his sin." He said, leaving with that.

---

Lydia groaned as she rubbed her eyes, being pulled along gently by a rose colored spider, almost tripping over her own feet in the process. Ginger smiled a face splitting grin, almost breaking her face and three of her ankles, as they traveled down a flight of stairs. Lydia let out a small yelp, brushing her black hair behind her ears and watching the spider. She was wide awake now.

"Slow down Ginger! I'm going to trip! Why are you so excited anyways?"

She then was stopped suddenly as she almost tripped over Ginger, the over excited pink blur of a spider.

"Da'lain', go ge' ya'self comfy in tha dinin' hall, while I go ge' Jacques!" She said, letting go of a confused Lydia and rushing off in some general direction. Lydia blinked and turned to the towering double doors, and was memorized at the Gothic pattern engraved into the heavy hazelnut wood, stained a deep, rich red. Blood seemed to be soaked deep into these doors. She smiled lightly, running her fingers across the grain of the wood, enjoying the feel of it under her fingers.

The door snapped open wide enough for her to enter.

She blinked at the gap of black darkness and sighed at it. It was barely sunrise, but still, some sort of light should have leaked into the eternal darkness beyond these doors. She sighed again and brushed off her clothes, trying to smooth out the wrinkles. Maybe if she ran into him, he wouldn't-she caught herself. Why was she thinking like that anyways? She never thought that way, for anyone. Must have been a fluke.

She slowly stepped into the darkness, and tried to see through it, but was quickly blinded by a bright flash of light. She stepped back, closing the door with her back, and rubbed at her eyes furiously. "Come on…it's way too early to be blinded…" she groaned to herself, and opened her eyes slowly to green ones. She blushed deeply at how close they were, and she yelped.

She slumped to the ground and groaned, rubbing her face with the flat of her hand. "Beetlejuice…" she sighed into her hand, and she looked up to him floating where her head was.

"Hey babes."

"Don't call me that."

"What? After I saved your life, you still won't let me call ya a pleasantry?"

Lydia sighed and stood up slowly, and looked at him while dusting herself off. "No, I just think that… 'nick names' are a little too personal." She sighed and rubbed her face again, trying to rub away the blush that crept so heavily onto her face.

She ignored the obvious wagging of blond eyebrows. "Geez, babes, didn't know ya thought of me that way."

She shoved his face away when it got too close for comfort. "I don't." She then tapped her chin closing her eyes in thought. "Well…since everyone calls me 'Deetz'" she said, her voice down a few tones at her family name. "You can call me Lydia. Not babes or-"

"Sure thing, Lyds."

"Or that." She groaned, then clasped her hands together and pressed her forefingers against her lips. "Hmm…maybe I could allow it…" she glanced up at his bright eyes, centered on her. "If. You tell me something about you." She hid the smirk that grew when she saw his eyebrows furrow at her, and his eyes lidded. It went so well with the giant frown that grew larger in thought, and that blond lock that fell just right over his-

"Alright." She blinked out of her thoughts and turned to the blond that seemed to turn his frown into a smirk. "I'll tell ya all kinds of crap, crap that you wish ya didn't even know."

She almost fell over in shock. "R-really?"

"Ya. But only if…" he smirked at how she flinched, and got nervous under his words, and how her brown eyes seemed to sparkle, for him, at this new sort of game. He then smiled and closed his eyes, landing with a soft tink against the wood floor. "you go to dinner with me, tonight."

He caught the blush she tried to hide. "Dinner?"

"Yup, since ya blew me off last time!" He screeched, and then smirked at another sparkle in her eyes he was oh so fond of.

"I didn't blow you off!"

"Riiiggghhttt." He turned and crossed his arms, closing off the part of his mind that screamed at him for looking away from those beautiful brown eyes. Damn voice, telling nonsense. He expected a scream and a slamming of the doors. Instead, he got a small chuckle. He turned to look, despite himself.

He almost flinched at how close she was. "Alright then. Only if you tell me what you said you were going to tell. More also, if you don't mind." She looked into his eyes brightly, and his heart almost beat out of its frozen place, racing if it could. He furrowed his eyes at the sparkle in her eyes, the sparkle that said 'I win'. He frowned. Damn women and their damn mind games. He grunted and looked away, ignoring the smirk at the 'blush' on his face. Damn women, thinking that men blush. They tone, not blush. He then stuck his hands in his pockets, and felt something he should have given her in the first place, so that they didn't have to have this discussion.

"Right, uh, here." He said, pulling out a camera; a plain old film camera. He tossed it to her, which she caught, and looked over with wide eyes. Her eyes were sparkling…sparkling with something better than winning a battle, or being sly, or even something else. This sparkle was of pure awe and admiration; adoration for him and only him. She turned her attention to him and smiled blissfully, genuinely, as she gripped the camera gently, like a child holding a doll. "Beetlejuice…" her voice was glazed over with bliss.

He toned deeply and turned away, floating up to the ceiling. "Right, see ya tonight." With that he was gone.

Damn women, making him whipped.


	12. His Story

**Author's note:** W-wa...wahahaha....AHAHAHA! Ten pages of word doc! Ten sweet pages of story I had to get out! SWEET JUSTICE! Now I can finally say this is half way over! :'D It feels good...so good...

I got this done sooner than I thought. I beat my thought deadline by a week! Ha! Now I don't feel so guilty about not updating for a month, and I can probably go another couple of weeks without updating. There's just so much to this chapter. Urhur... My brain can finally sleep.

I know I should have probably waited for updating, but if I don't update right away, then I'll forget about the chapter, and even having it. . Bad habit and all that. I got three people to thank, for reviews. BeetleBend, rubydesires, and reader. You guys are awesomes.

**Note to other readers: Chapter 11 is also up, and if you don't know what's going on in the beginning of this chapter, you probably didn't read the last chapter, so go read it, please. If you have already, sweetness. **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Beetlejuice. I do own Basil. Also, the little old lady at the end might seem familiar. I don't own her, so she's part of the cast.

I did promise a super long chapter, so enjoy reading guys. Now, it's time for another chapter of:

**The Beauty and The Beetle:**

**Ch 12:** His Story

The edges of the hall glowed in an eerie glow of eternal darkness, heads of twisted faces and jagged curves jetted out from every which way. Cobwebs dangled largely from the ceilings and statues with said heads, hanging thickly from age, eight feet wide and twelve feet tall. Slowly, a handsomely black and giant spider, slightly bigger than Ginger, crept out of the darkness and into the green grey glow the stone had naturally. It reflected against the black of this giant spider, as he turned his attention towards one of the nearby statues.

A flash filled the room.

He turned his attention to a beautiful young woman with long black hair and pail black skin, dressed in a black dress with a red over dress like silk. He seemed to smile, and lowered himself into view. "My my, hello beautiful creature." He said with a Spanish inclination. Lydia blinked and looked at the spider, lowering her camera.

"You sound foreign, are you from overseas?"

"Ah yes. My name is Basil, I come from Spain." He said, as he grabbed one of Lydia's hands gently with two of his and kissed the knuckle of it. "Don't be shy, I do not bite." He said, smirking at Lydia, who just watched.

"Deadly Vu…"

"Yes, well…" He said, pulling away. "Would you like to hear of my story? It is a tragic tale of romance and heartbreak!" he said, putting two of his hands to his forehead, and rolling his r's. Lydia smiled and nodded, and watched as Basil leapt from his place on his silk to the wall on the left. "Oh, seniorita, I was merely an adolescent when it all began. Homeless as disease swept thick through my town. Many died around me, and I was the last of my town. Tragic beginning, is it not?" She nodded. "Then, like a beacon of light, Askel rescued me from that life, and taught me about better things. He then became my master, and I became the decorator for his castle. I was going to marry Ginger, but then the curse came along. I've been in the corners since." He sighed as he ran two of his hands along his head.

"Curse?"

"Yes, the curse, hasn't master told you of it?"

She shook her head. "No…and who's Askel?"

At this Basil grew silent. He then scurried up the wall to his giant cobweb. "Nice to meet you, seniorita."

"Hey! Wait! Don't blow me off like that."

He then turned to her. "Sorry miss, but I have said too much. Take it up with the master, ask him about it. I thought you knew, sorry for spilling such words. Good day." He waved his hands, did a motion, and then disappeared into the darkness.

Lydia groaned in disapproval, but then shoved it aside, and went to find more places to take pictures of. She would just have to ask Beetlejuice tonight. Maybe it was a brother or something she hadn't seen yet.

---

The night drew near, after a day of picture taking on Lydia's part, and a day of pacing and anxiety on Beetlejuice's part. That and staring at the rose in the middle of his room. Spider webs hung from the glass that surrounded the lavender symbol of love. He watched the rose, and tried to think of what he should say to her. What he would say…he bit his lip and sighed. She wanted personal, well he would give her personal.

There was a knock at the door, which caught his attention. The door cracked, and in popped his adviser, assistant, and left hand man; Will. With a push of his glasses, with his sleeved hand, Will grinned shyly, his apple green glow flickering. Beetlejuice groaned and sighed. "Spit it out."

"Uhm, she's waiting for you downstairs, in the dining hall."

Beetlejuice blinked and looked out the window. Night time already…heh. He grinned and flicked his fingers. His black and white pinstriped suit flashed a toxic green and appeared as clean as the day he got it. He sneered and sighed. He hated cleaning his suit, but it was for a good cause. Make the lady swoon, and she was all yours; that is what the old hag told him. He grinned slyly and looked at Will.

"It's Showtime."

---

It was dark and almost dreary, with only moon light shining through the large windows, which covered the entire wall. A wall of windows, a wall of moon light. Objects that resembled candles, orbs, metallic things that shined in the white light of the moon were placed here and there, dangles of spider webs and cobwebs finishing the touch. She loved it all entirely and completely. The faded blood red curtains, ripped and torn from age, practically falling off of itself, added a nice touch too. She smiled and turned off the flash on her camera, and took pictures here and there.

Slowly everything started to take a faint toxic glow, and she gasped in awe. "Perfect…" she started to take pictures rapidly, feeling eyes on her. She smirked and finished, then turned to the source of the green. She looked at him and blinked. "You…look clean." She said, surprised. He scoffed and tilted his head, looking away from her.

"Heh, had to make some impression to ya, right?" He glanced at her, who had a giant smile on her face. He flinched at that, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Wha? Why ya so smiley and stuff?"

She blinked and dropped her smile. "I'm not smiling; do you see a smile on my face? No, I thought not." She sighed and pulled off her camera, putting it on one of the chairs. She could see clearly now; the green was so bright and warm. Like arms wrapped around her, holding her and warming her. Almost his ar-she blushed and shook her head. She didn't have a crush. No, not at all. No crush here, not for the attractive blond that always watched her with those intense green eyes…gah stop it Lydia.

Beetlejuice smirked as he watched the young woman in front of him hit her fore head with the balls of her palm. He cleared his throat, snapping her out of it. She looked at him as if he just got there. He rolled his eyes and groaned, stepping off the ground and sitting in mid air, lounging back. "Got somethin' on your mind Lyds?"

Lydia stared at him, and slowly shook her head. "…A lot lately." She turned away and sighed. "I can hardly see in here, can we get a light going or something?"

He frowned at her, then snapped his fingers, warm gold filling the room rapidly, and extinguishing the lulling green. Lydia wanted to get rid of the gold, but didn't…

She turned to him, and crossed her arms. He took her in; the black and red dress that curved over her body, her pail complexion and her red lips. He whistled. "Got all dolled up didn't ya?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Are you going to tell me about yourself? Like you said you would?"

Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow at her. "Sure babes, but after we eat. Have dinner, ya know?" He sighed and flicked his hand. Lydia was instantly in her seat, and Beetlejuice floated down into his. The doors then flew right open, almost breaking off their hinges. Lydia looked at the doorway, and watched as an extremely long buffet table, on wheels, flew into the room. Five seconds passed, before the end of it was in sight, as well as Jacques, who was pushing the ridiculously oversized buffet table. He ran it over to the table, and stopped, panting at the strain on his poor bones.

Lydia bit her lip, and looked at the table, completely covered by a silver tray covering, from head to toe. She then looked at Jacques. "Are you ok?"

Jacques panted a nod and waved his hand at the thought. "Oi, Oi, No mind to me." He said barely, and grabbed the top of the covering. He then whipped it off to reveal a mountain of food. Lydia stared at the randomly colored and assorted mountain of food.

"This is a bit excessive."

He waved away the thought.

---

Lydia laughed and smiled, leaning forward and looking over Beetlejuice, as he waved his hands around and talked of things he saw in his youth. Of faraway lands, Kingdoms in the east, and treasures that were beyond the reaches of mortals.

"Yeah, it was a trip Lyds. You should have seen the sultan in Spain. Big puffy hat, and everything. Wanted me to take his son into my abode. He was a good decorator, at the time." Beetlejuice said, a wide, prideful grin plastered across his face. He was in his natural environment; gloating about his achievements. He used to be highly respected, among the courts of the lands. Lydia liked seeing him this way, so prideful and strong about himself. It suited him…

She smiled widely with lidded eyes. She tilted her head on the back of her hand, her free hand gripping a glass of wine by the stem. "What was his son's name?"

He closed his eyes and tapped his chin. "Basil, I think it was."

Lydia became sober at that. She bit her lip, and closed her eyes.

_-but then the curse came along…_

A clear of a gruff voice came and shook her out of her thoughts. Brown eyes flickered up to meet green eyes…almost worried green eyes. "Hey Lyds, is everything ok?" He asked, leaning forward, and she took him in. pail as death skin, with a slight hint of pink life to it, bright emerald green eyes that still had a shine of toxic to it. Blond hair that had a soft life to it. He still looked dead…but not as dead. She flinched as she felt a hint of warmth land on her hand-his hand. His hand, it was slightly warm…she looked up at him. Shouldn't the dead be cold?

She looked at him, leaned over the table and close to her; genuine human concern. She looked down, pushing back a blush, and pulled her hand away. "Yeah, I'm fine." She heard him shift back into his seat. "Beetlejuice…can I ask you something?" she asked, looking at him. He nodded hesitantly, watching her.

"Yeah, sure babes. Anything." He said, with a hint of sincerity. She blushed lightly. He was almost acting human…maybe…

Her eyes flicked up to his instantly, a seriousness to hers and a confusement to his. "Beetlejuice, I need to know about a curse."

All color went away from his complexion, and was replaced with the thick dead blue she first associated him with. He seemed to die all over again. His face hardened up, and his eyes were glazed over with a bitter cold. He stood up, his hands heavy on the table.

Her heart screamed at her for saying anything.

"Dinner's over babes. You don't need to know about a curse." He said, shoving himself away from the table, and fazing right through the chair. "Hope you enjoy the camera Lydia." He said coldly, and turned to the door.

She looked at him teary eyed, and shoved herself away from the table. Before she could control her actions, she ran to him, saw him turn to see her, and tackled him by the chest, clinging to him. He was so stunned he forgot to phase through her. "Beetlejuice, please, tell me about it. Tell me what happened, about the curse, and who's Askel?" She looked up at him sadly, and he stared down at her.

Why did she hurt when he kept this from her? He told her everything else about himself; that he likes maroon the best out of all the colors, that he traveled everywhere, even beyond the sun, that he was a prince, and that he had nothing at all. So why did she have to know this too? Why did her heart scream at her, and why couldn't she look away from him, or let him go?

Beetlejuice sighed and closed his eyes, blushing lightly and turning his head to the side. "Alright Lyds. I'll tell ya, but you gotta swear it won't change your mind of me. Got it?" he looked down at her sternly, and she nodded. He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder blade. He then floated up, so that she could stand, and pried her off of him gently. "Come on, into the den." He sighed and turned. She grabbed the back of his shirt, and followed him, not wanting to let him out of her grip.

Once in the den, he sat her down in front of the fireplace, and sighed, snapping his fingers and floating into a sitting position level with her, in mid air. He faced her as the fire burned brightly. "Ya warm babes? Not gonna break down from the cold now are ya?" He asked, eyeing her, and she nodded.

"I'm warm." She mumbled, and curled up in the over sized seat.

He chuckled darkly, and smacked his hands together, rubbing them together. "Great…Alright then, where to start…"

"How about with telling me who Askel is?"

He glanced at her, noticing her eyes were plastered onto him, not moving unless he moved; not even blinking.

He shifted and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Me…" He groaned and leaned back, flipping through air. When he stopped face forward he was leaning on his thighs. "I wasn't always called by…what you call me."

"Beetlejuice."

"Right, that. Before that name was…bestowed onto me…I was known as Askel Willerich. I was a prince in Germany, but my parents, being the king and queen, thought I should get my spoiled ass out of their wealth, and make my own. I was doing damn good, albeit living a bachelor's life, but I built up the town of Winter River. Hell, I made that town. I was rich, I had servants, I even had suitors. They were ugly as sin, but they were suitors."

Lydia frowned at it. "You shouldn't be so shallow."

Beetlejuice scoffed. "So sue me, I ain't the one who wanted to be married, I ain't the one who was looking for suitors, they were. Father wanted me to get married, so I could be a King of this French Provence, but I didn't want to be tied down. Damn wenches."

Lydia glared at him.

He looked at her, and raised his hands in defense. "Can ya blame me? I'm a guy, and guys are pigs."

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, in relief, as Lydia slowly nodded in agreement. "Then that damn hag had to come along."

"…Hag?"

He glanced at her, and sighed, closing his eyes. "Six hundred and thirty two years ago…"

---

Sways of bright pastels danced in his eyes, as women and men together danced in unison for his entertainment, as he glanced up to the candle lit chandeliers. The massive room, seemingly glowing from all the candles, and the brand new shine down for the festivities, danced in gold, red, and pastels. Roses were scattered, along with maroon drapes, in unison. They even seemed to sway, as the wind and wood band in the middle played melodies that would lighten almost any mood. Attendance of countries and courts throughout the land were here at his ball, to bring prosperity to his town.

He sighed and closed his eyes, a slightly tanned hand rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then felt a strand of blond hair fall in front of his eyes; he tucked it back into place immediately. He hated these sort of shindigs; they were always such downers. But it was better than being with his downer parents, always telling him what to do. Damn parents…

A clearing of the throat turned his attention to a scrawny, pail, less attractive doppelganger of himself. This was William, his cousin that tagged along to help build up the town, and keep tabs on him. Askel groaned as he rubbed the flat of his hand against his face. "What Will?"

Will flinched and tugged at the suit, which was two sizes too big for him, then pushed up his round glasses. Jade green met emerald green in a short lived battle for dominance. Askel always won that battle. "Uh, master Askel, the escorts are here to see you…"

Askel sighed deeply, and closed his eyes, sitting up in his seat. "Send them in."

With a whisk of maroon drapes, a tall blond in a large pink gown, that made her assets rather noticeable, walked up to him and smiled widely. "Well hello prince Askel." Her voice screeched, overdoing sweet by a mile and a half.

He groaned. "Pink makes you look fat. Next."

He smirked as he watched her run out in a furry of tears and high pitched sobs. He chuckled. "Aww, don't cry, it makes you look fat…" he called after her softly, and then cackled wildly.

---

After the twentieth girl in pink and blond, he was starting to get pissed. He roared in outrage as another blond girl in pink walked up to him, and then out right bawled in fear. He roared again and rubbed his nose. "Get this wench out of my site William. Along with the rest of my suitors. In fact, just get everyone out." He stepped up out of his seat, and pushed through the curtains that led down into the main dance hall. William looked after him in curiosity and confusement.

Askel then did something stupid. He walked to the center of the hall, where the band was, and kicked over the conductor. Everyone, and the music, stopped in their tracks. He then jumped up onto the podium, his anger at its peak.

"Everyone, get the fuck out of my castle!"

There was a silence, and then nervous laughter. They didn't know if this was one of his jokes, or the real thing. The crash of a Tuba into a Cello told the latter. The air grew silent.

"Get out you faceless hacks. You all are sick, eating off of my wealth. I earned it, why should I have to pay for your enjoyment? This little sick party of ours will end. Show me your real faces. Not the stupid little idiotic smiles you flash everyone, but the faces you hide when you're tired and alone; when you're angry and treat everyone below you like dirt. Show me that face!" He roared out, grabbed a wind instrument, and smashed it over the side of the podium he was on.

"None of you are my friends. None of you are my acquaintances. Hell! A few of you even know who I am. The rest of you are faceless to me. Ugly, sinful faces." He sneered and turned to the women, who once wanted to escort him, but was now in tears. "And you, you fake women, dressed in pink and being completely mindless. You are disappointments to your parents, and I personally hope you get run over by the horse that gets spooked by your ugliness."

He then grinned widely and then howled in laughter. "Take the money, take the fame and glory that you so desperately claw at, you transgender banshees!" his voice became suddenly low. "But keep me out of your ugliness."

There was stillness in the air, stale with fear and anxiety. Then, they were gone in a flood of chaos.

Slowly, out of the rubble of what was once glorious beauty, walked up a French man in chef's clothes. He rubbed his moustache in comfort, and slowly jogged over to the disappointed man on the podium. Askel stared at the ground, his feet a foot from it, with a furry in his emerald green, a disappointment and anger at the world, for what it was.

Jacques stood next to him, and they were silent for who knows how long. Then, slowly, Jacques started to speak. "Mastar, why did you say all those t'ings? They will nevar come back again."

Askel slowly looked up at Jacques, with a stone coldness. "The world is fake. Everything is fake. Everyone is fake. Everyone is ugly." He then got off the podium, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You're ugly, I'm ugly. I hate ugliness. Simple as that." He then turned to walk away, when there was a thundering knock at the front door.

The two slowly turned to the direction of the door. After a minute, it was there again. Time passed again, and there was another knock.

Askel sighed and walked to the door. He needed to walk too; hell, maybe he could spit in the face of the person knocking on his door.

He opened it, and there as a huddled over figure in the middle of a snow storm, standing right in front of him. He raised an eyebrow, and then grunted.

"_Please…_"

The voice rasped, barely audible over the snow and wind. He frowned at this.

"_Please…_"

"Please what you hag?"

The figure shifted up, for him to see, only to show an elder woman clutching her rapidly bleeding throat, trying to stop the blood. He flinched.

"Is this some kind of sick joke to you?!"

She coughed, blood splattering onto his shoes.

"_Please…take my rose…give my rose shelter…it will die in this cold…_"

Askel then started to grin. Maybe death would do him good to see. Get his blood lust in check.

"No, I will not."

The woman's gray eyes were pleading him.

"_But…why?_"

She coughed more blood. He grinned widely, and watched her drop to her knees.

"Because, I'm an ass."

He leaned over as she fell to the ground, lifeless.

A second passed, blood seeped into the snow around her. Another second passed, and there was a shaky rasp coming from her.

"_You failed…_"

He blinked, and tilted his head.

"Whu…?"

"_You __**failed**_**.**"

The rose in her hand started to peel away, tucking into itself to reveal a bloody skull, and then her neck cracked, as her head turned to face him, while her body was still on the ground.

He stepped back, and watched as a flash of green filled his sight.

When he could see again there was a woman sitting behind a desk, in the middle of his walkway. He stared at her, and then looked behind him. "Jacques, William, Basil." He called out to his servants, but the woman chuckled bitterly.

"They can't hear you." Her voice rasped.

He turned to the woman, with short gray-brown hair, and cold silver eyes, and hole in her throat.

"Who are you?"

"None of your concern Askel."

He flinched. "How do you know that?"

She sighed and pulled out a file. "Askel Willerich. Twenty four years old, old for this time, and you're deeply narcissistic."

"Narcis-who-huh?"

She sighed and closed the file, then threw it at him. "Means that if things don't go your way, then you become like this!" she growled and glared at Askel. "You don't deserve what you have, and until you find someone that can help you see through all your crap, you never will."

Askel growled and glared at her. "The hell are you talking about?! I built that town, see?!" he said, pointing to the town down the mountain side. "I made that, no one else."

"Yeah, you built a town. Whoop-de-fucking-do. That's the only good you've done! You've destroyed your parent's name, you pillage and black mail societies that don't bend to your will, and that's just the iceburg kid. You know how much paperwork I've had to do because of your sorry ass?!"

"Paper work? Paper work?! You're bitching at me because of some damn papers?!"

"Yes! That and if you keep on doing what you're doing, you're going to end up dead real quick. If you would just pick a woman, and bear child with her, then this damn charade would be over with!"

"None of them are real though! They're fake, the whole lot of them!"

The woman then stared at Askel, and chuckled darkly. "You want real?" she asked, looking up at nodding eyes. "Listen, bub, real doesn't come around every day. Hell, it rarely comes around once every millennia."

"I don't care. I want real, even if I have to wait a million years."

She then grinned wirily, and then grabbed a paper. "You want it, you got it." She then grabbed a giant stamp, and stabbed down on the paper. Big red letters that read 'approved' were on that paper, and then it disappeared into dust.

A white ball slowly started to rise up into the sky. She turned to him. "Listen good and listen quick, because I'm only going to say this once. You're going to become immortal, become dead, become a poltergeist. Your servants, or whoever's in that castle, will turn dead too, or at least into creatures of the night. Everyone in there will be stuck there, and if they leave then they will die. You can only leave if someone you love is in serious danger. If you leave otherwise, then you will fade. See this rose?" She said, glancing at the ball in the sky, only half way. She then pulled out a lavender rose and held it out to him.

"This rose will stay frozen in time, until the person you might have a chance with shows up. When they do show up, you have a week. If you don't love her, and get her love in return, in that week, then it will fade into dust, along with you, this castle, and any legacy that you might have left behind. Leave this castle on the mister meaner, and that happens automatically. Got it?" She said sharply, as she tossed the rose at Askel.

"You will be known as Beetlejuice. If anyone finds out who you really are, outside of the castle, then there will be hell. You only got one shot, so don't screw this up." She stared at him as she looked up, only to see the ball of white jet out in every direction, stretching over lands that reached his name. Then, slowly, white light started to seep down, as if scanning the land. She looked at him one last time.

"It better have been worth it, Beetlejuice." She said, as she faded when the light reached her.

Slowly, as the light drenched over him, his castle, and his land, things changed. The luxurious castle was now a rundown road house. The servants, as she said, were turned into creatures of the night. Askel lost his name right, and could only be called Beetlejuice. He was eternally stuck in black and white pinstripes. He glanced over his land, as it was slowly surrounded by a thick forest that spread beyond his sight, in the dead of night. Before he went back inside, he took one last deep breath of fresh air, and looked down at the lavender rose, seemingly set in stone. He sighed and turned back into the roadhouse castle.

"It is worth it…"


	13. There's always a catch

**Author's note:** Ok, I just realized something. **There's only two-three chapters left of this story!** D: Oh gosh, the panic of it all is overwhelming. I have such a following with this story, I'm almost sad to end it. T_T But all good things must come to an end, eventually.

Thank yous to my reviewers, which have made me happy to write this chapter: Reader, Substitute Reality, rubydesires, Cybernetic Mango, the ever persistent Dark Roswellian Angel, and Alonein-Darkness7. You guys are awesome.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Beetlejuice. The characters that are mine are mine though, and no one else's.

Now onto the next chapter of:

**The Beauty and the Beetle**

**Ch 13: **There's always a catch.

---

A thick crack of burnt wood brought Beetlejuice out of his reminiscence. He focused onto what he was staring out, in the midst of unwanted memories, which turned out to be Ginger and Jacques peaking through the crack of the door. He furrowed his brows; they heard everything. Every-damn-thing. He sent an evil sneer at them, which was enough for them to run. They may have lived it, but it still pissed him off that they would eavesdrop.

The sneer thick on his face dropped when his eyes landed on Lydia. Her head was tucked downward, as she leaned on her knees, and her breath was slow and shaky. He started to panic, and he leaned forward, grabbing her shoulder gently. He tried to bend forward, and low enough, to look at her face. He didn't want her crying, didn't want her concerned for his sorry ass.

She kept on turning her face away though, so that only the strands of long black could block out her face. He furrowed his brows together, and tugged the corner of his upper lip up, starting to sneer. When he was about to speak, she spoke. She spoke low and steady.

"Askel."

He stiffened up, and clutched his hands.

"Don't say my name…"

"Fine then, Beetlejuice."

He looked her over and sighed, relaxing a bit. She shouldn't say his name, she couldn't.

"When you went after me, yesterday…"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, what about it babes?"

She hesitated.

"Why didn't you disappear? Did it hurt?"

He paused, and slowly looked down at the floor. His brows furrowed once again, and bit his lip. He never thought about it. It didn't hurt to go after her. He didn't feel disappear-y. Besides the whole…water…thing, it wasn't a problem. Maybe the old hags curse wore off…nah, that wouldn't be right. They were all still creepy and undead-y… and that damned rose…

"Is the rose starting to wilt?"

He looked up at her sharply, his eyes widening at her. Could she read his mind? No…probably shook his own head in thought. Damn girl, being observant. He was still silent, not answering her question. Was the rose starting to wilt? Last he saw it was still perfect and pristine. Maybe a little less stone like, but still it had all of its petals.

He looked her over, meeting eyes through the thick of her lashes. He looked away and shrugged.

"I 'unno." He mumbled, and she sat up suddenly.

"Are you sure? Absolutely sure?"

He fell back slightly, from the random attack of the girl in front of her. He looked her over. She sounded so anxious.

"Ya, I'm sure I don't know. Why's it matter so much to you babes?"

He watched as she stiffened, and returned to her previous position. She shrugged barely.

"I dunno…"

He leaned forward, getting closer to her, and he tried to look at her. She looked up at him, frowning lightly. He smirked.

"Ya like me, don't ya?"

She sneered and turned away.

"No, I was just wondering if I could still get out."

He flinched, and pulled away, looking at her with cold eyes. He stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. "What? Am I such crap that you can't even look at me?" He said with a grumble in his throat.

She looked at him, and stood up, shoulders square and fists clenched. "No. But you almost killed my father, and sealed me away from the life I knew."

"But I saved your life! I gave you a fucking camera!"

"And I'm grateful for both of those! But besides that you violated my personal space, and you tried to force me into things. You yell at the people here, people that try and be close to you! You yell at Jacques, and Ginger, and Will, and me-"She flinched and looked away.

He raised an eye brow and turned her towards him. "What, you care about me?" he said, his voice low. She looked at him, like a deer caught in headlights. She pulled away and turned. Before she left he grabbed her by the arm and held her in place. "Answer me."

She jerked her arm away, and sighed. "What would happen if I did? Would you say you like me back too? Would you say that I found someone to be with, that wants me for me besides my looks? Would you look me in the eye and claim happiness and love, or anything remotely of the sort? Would you say I'm sorry, and then hold me close?" she said sarcastically, exaggerating with her arms, wrapping them around herself tight. After a second of silence she dropped her arms, her back still towards him.

"Would you risk your life, would you die, for the person you love?"

She then left with that, giving him a lot to think about.

---

"Charles, please, reconsider!" Barbara cried out to the blond man, franticly going around his home in search of items. Items to help him survive the cold until he reached that god forsaken road house. Adam was also trying to help persuade Charles.

"Charles, I know Lydia means everything to you, but you can't go out into the night. Ask people in the eatery to help. Ask the church. Ask anyone willing to listen." Adam said, trying to coax the man frantic before them out of a practical suicide.

"I tried all that. Tried everything. They won't listen. Won't listen at all." Charles muttered under his breath, grabbing his jacket. The couple looked at each other.

"Well, Charles, it does seem sort of farfetched that a monster took Lydia from you." Barbara said slowly, and flinched as Charles turned heal to face her, and pulled up his sleeve. There rested, embedded into his upper arm, was a bar from the holding cell, frost imprinting it permanently.

"Does this look like farfetchedness? Does this give you enough proof? I mean, unless you think I'm crazy enough to press my arm against a metal bar long enough for it to burn into my skin." He chuckled dryly, and then turned back to what he was doing.

The two paused, only for a second, before going back to what they were doing also. "Charles, please…"

"Don't try anymore Barbara, Adam. You two were good people, good God parents to my little girl. Normally I would listen, but don't ask me to listen now. Not when my only flesh and blood is out there, caught in the hands of a monster doing only God knows what to her. I will not let my daughter go, while I can do something about it."

And with that he left out the door.

Barbara rushed to look outside of the door, and noticed a large, round figure coming towards the house. Barbara paled.

---

The following day in the roadhouse was a heavy one. Lydia had seemed to vanish within the night, not a hair of her being seen throughout the day. Beetlejuice was worried, though he wouldn't admit it, to anyone. He did get reports from Eliot, against her will, that Lydia was safe.

Then, there was a scream.

Beetlejuice was there immediately, in Lydia's room, only to find Elliot alone, looking around the room, lit by the morning light.

He sneered and turned to Elliot, a spike or two shooting out of his back. "Where is she ya damn floating skeleton."

Elliot shook her head wildly and raised her arms over her head. "I don't know! She was asleep one minute, then I go to check on something in my closet, and the next she's gone!" She looked around, finding herself alone again.

He sped quickly through the roadhouse, checking every room, every nook and cranny, every possible place in the castle. He checked multiple times in multiple places. Still nothing. Finally, when he was out of breath, he stopped by a window looking out onto the snow covered courtyard. He looked around it; it was bleak, white, and practically falling apart. His eye caught onto something though, something black, white and red; Lydia. He blinked and pressed his face against the window, watching her feed squirrels. He calmed down a bit; she was ok. She didn't run away again, she wasn't kidnapped…

Not like anyone knows about this place, or would even dare step foot into the roadhouse, but still.

He sighed and pressed his forehead against the window, and watched her. Damn squirrels, getting her affection. He flinched when he noticed her waving at him, with a huge smile on her face. He blinked and scowled at her, then turned away and left down the hall.

He sighed and closed his eyes, his mind going back to that fateful night. It was the anniversary of that hellish event…maybe he should…he smirked.

---

Lydia was on her way to the kitchen. Maybe Jacques could whip her up something to eat…She was stopped suddenly, out of nowhere. She blinked and kept trying to walk; no such luck. She blinked and looked at her feet, and she let out a slight yelp. Her feet were glued in place, five feet off the ground, by red tipped fingers. She narrowed her lips and pressed her legs together, tying her long skirt into a side knot. She felt green eyes on her, and a green glow wrap around her. She sighed and ran a hand through her bangs lightly. "Hey Beetlejuice."

Slowly she was pulled to the ground like a balloon, until her feet touched down. In front of her the blond with eerie green eyes materialized, crossed arms and a sly smirk. She raised an eyebrow. "Hey Lyds, I was wondering something."

She sighed, and waved her arm for him to go on. He smirked.

"How do you feel about dancing?"

She stared at him and raised an eyebrow, pushing back the red of her cheeks. She shifted slightly, lowering her head and grasping her hands together in her lap, smoothing out fabric under her pinky's. "Dancing? I'm not quite sure…I mean I've always wanted to go dancing, but it's always seemed like a show to me." She shrugged and swayed from one foot to another.

He smirked and ran a hand throw his pure blond, not noticing the pink tone to his skin. "Alright then, see you down stairs then."

She blinked and looked up at him wide eyed, not noticing her own redden cheeks."For what?"

He just smirked and turned away. "For the dance, of course. Dress in your best." He shrugged and walked away.

When he was out of her ear shot he let out a long held breath…he blinked furrowed his brows in thought. He let out a…he looked down at himself, and he let out a slight screech. He was walking, he had pink skin, and he almost had a pulse. He was in full panic mode at about this moment. He was practically a breather!

He let out a screech, and pulled at his hair. "Damn that hag!"

---

"My friends! My companions! I have gathered you all here, because there is a devil among us!" Bellowed the rather plump and vengeful Otho; hands raised in a call from what would seem the gods. Mouth wide with a call of heathens, he gestured wildly as the townsfolk gathered in awe. "A crazy man, a lunatic, a creature not meant to call himself man. He has been possessed by demons, by maleficent spirits!" Otho threw himself forward, jerking and staring wide eyed at the folk, who seemed to flinch at the thought.

He then stood formally, smoothing his hair back until it was finely pressed against his skull. He then brushed off his robes, smoothing them until they were formal too. Slowly, he raised his hands until they were in a straight line, and slowly he bowed. "This possessed man, with a young daughter, who somehow disappeared merely days ago, befriended two others, which have seemingly been possessed also." A sneer slowly appeared as he stopped bowing, and he turned his head slightly, indicating to two people being dragged out by chains and shackles, and by their own arms. The two people, a male with glasses and short brown hair, and a woman with long curly dark brown hair, and rage in her eyes, were contorting themselves in hopes to be out of the grips of their captors-who had white masks on their face with crosses on the foreheads.

The crowd started to talk amongst themselves fiercely. "Isn't that the Maitland couple?" "I knew they were too kind for their own good." "No one normal would be so kind to that crazy man and daughter." "That explains a lot."

Barbara started to scream, as one of the men squeezed harder on her arm, practically crushing it in his grasp. The crowd gasped and inched away, as Adam snarled at the man. "Leave her alone! She did nothing to you!" Adam yelled, and turned his attention to Otho, who was hiding a smirk of success. "Otho! Let her go! If you want to punish anyone unjustly, it should be me!"

The crowd started to mumble once again. "That man called our father by his name."

Otho ignored the couple, and looked amongst the crowd. "If any of you can bring forth Charles Deetz, the man in question, then I will spare these two from drowning in the local lake."

Barbara gasped through a groan, and sneered at Otho. "Drown us?! Otho, you can't do that!"

Otho then backhanded Barbara, and the crowd went quiet. Barbara started to shake. "Silence demon! Only a foul creature such as yourself would aid in the possessed!" He then turned to Adam, who was pulling against his captive.

"Otho…" Adam snarled lowly, and Otho stared at Adam coldly, before pointing a finger at Adam.

"You and your wife, should both be ashamed of yourself, for polluting the earth with your stench of sin!" He then turned to the crowd. "Are none of you willing to aid these two from their perpetual sin, by saving their souls and telling me where their ring leader of hellish delight is?!" Otho paused, as the crowd shifted. Otho scanned them, and paused, before waving his hand away. "Then drown them." Adam and Barbara gasped, as they were dragged to the high-rise above the lake, followed by the crowd, and Otho himself.

When the crowd stopped, they noticed the couple being dangled over the water by ropes tied around their hands. There were small boulders tied around their ankles. Adam looked at Barbara, who was holding back tears. She would not give the satisfaction of letting Otho win, after all this. Adam sighed softly, which caught Barbara's attention.

"Adam…"

"I don't regret anything Barb. I don't regret being with you for all my life, I don't regret marrying you, and I don't regret you standing up to him, even though it ends here." Adam said loud enough for her to hear. He smiled softly at her as she started to cry, and shake her head.

"I don't regret any of that either Adam. Thank you.."

As soon as they said their final goodbyes, a voice reached out through the crowd, reaching Otho. Slowly, two girls reached the front of the crowd, standing in front of Otho. A tall, dangly girl, and a short red head. Barbara started to shake, and watched with Adam. Bertha…Prudence…

"F-father Otho…s-stop, please." The shorter of the two panted lightly, looking up at Otho pleadingly.

"We know where Mr. Deetz went!" said the lanky brunet nasally, spilling everything in hope.

"No! Bertha, Prudence, don't say anything to that man!" the couple cried out, swaying eerily over the water below. Otho raised an eyebrow, for them to continue.

Prudence, the short one, continued, watching the couple in fear. "H-he went into the forest."

"The forest?" he seemed to purr in thought.

The two nodded viciously. "Yeah. The forest. He was mumbling about Lydia, and he stumbled into the forest!"

Otho rubbed his chin in thought. "Why the forest though?"

The two looked at each other, in hesitance, and Otho frowned. Prudence shivered in fear, and continued. "Y-yesterday…"

"Yes, what about yesterday?" Otho said strictly, and Prudence opened and closed her mouth, trying to say something. Bertha continued.

"Yesterday night, when me and Prudence were walking around, when we saw Mr. Deetz going into the forest, there was a…"

Bertha and Prudence looked at each other. " A…castle…or something…in the hillside outside of the forest limits. If…if we think right then…"

"Then Mr. Deetz is going there!" The two panted as they stared at Otho, then to the two, hoping that they were still there.

The crowd mumbled amongst each other, as Otho looked to the hills outside of the forest. There was nothing but hills. Otho looked at the two and glared at them. "Are you two children lying? Because if you are there will be no sanctuary for you."

The two girls shook their heads wildly. "No! We wouldn't lie to you Father Otho, and besides, it would explain why Mr. Deetz would be going into the forest in the first place!"

Otho tapped his chin in thought, and looked towards the hillside. "Fine, I will take your word for it. We will look for this alleged castle of yours, but if you're wrong, you will end up like these two." He said, as the men in masks slashed the ropes holding the two in half.

Bertha and Prudence screamed and ran towards them, but were grabbed by the captives before they lunged themselves off the edge.

Adam and Barbara looked at each other, and smiled.

"I'll be waiting for you on the other side Barb."

Barbara nodded and smiled lovingly, as Adam did the same.

Then everything went black…


	14. The end is near

**Author's note: **Oh god, one more chapter left. Sorry guys, but I had to get this chapter out before I lost it and had more writers block. I had some time before school to write this up, so I did. The first half is a song fic, something I used to love writing when I first started writing. **The song that is put in this is called 'The Brightest Green' by 'Anarbor'.** I would highly recommend listening to it while reading the first part. It sounds surprisingly like a Beetlejuice type song.

Also, the next, and last, chapter will probably be up soon. It's going to be a real treat.

So, time for thank you's. I would like to thank Cybernetic Mango, Reader, Substitute reality, and rubydesires. You guys are great.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice, but I do own Lance and the crowd of towns people.

Now, onto the next chapter of:

**The Beauty and the Beetle**

**Ch. 14:** The end is near

---

On a night like this, normally Lydia would have her new camera. On a night like this, when the glows of greens and blues and pinks from the ghouls and creatures, that would not normally belong of this world, would hit everything just right, she would admire the slightest strand of hair for capturing all the colors. On a normal night, she would be preoccupied. But, this was not a normal light, now was it? What with Lydia, a rather beautiful person herself, dressed up to the point of dazzling even the roughest of hearts.

There were no need for candles, or for manmade light in general, because one glance at what they saw, at what Beetlejuice saw, any other lighting would be frowned upon.

She stood there, in awe at the lighting that the creatures gave off, in her black dress, layered at the skirt into an elegant puff of purple, royal blue, and hints of silk maroon. The top though, was a deep shade of blood red around her shoulders and upper arms, as well as the upper chest area-which slowly faded to a very dark red (almost considered black) as it reached down her sleeves and stomach. Her sleeves were bellowed out into a wide oval. Under her sleeves were black and white striped fingerless gloves.

When she noticed him she smiled mischievously, the red of her lips becoming deeper the more she smiled. Her eyes had a deep purple around them, making her deep brown eyes stand out even more. Her hair pushed to the side slightly as she cocked her head, flashing her teeth. The ink of her bangs fell over one of her eyes, as her high ponytail seemed to beckon to him, waving him over as she shifted her weight and crossed her arms just right.

He gulped.

He was just dressed in his black and white striped suit, with maroon undershirt. He looked down right grungy compared to her. He scoffed at himself and stuffed his hands in his pockets, sticking out his lower lip in frustration and defeat. She just laughed lightly at this, a toxic green seeming to frame her figure, making her seem like a nuclear angel.

He mentally screeched and blushed. She smiled and watched him with bliss. Then, out of the corner of his eye, a group of ghosts started to emerge with ghostly instruments of all sorts. He grinned as a wiry tune started to play, almost seeming to be on repeat. He grinned even more, turning it into a feral smirk. Oh yeah, he could get real comfortable with this tune. She waved him over, and good lord, did he seem to melt into step, a sort of sizzle in his tracks. His heart skipped a beat as she walked over to him, meeting him half way. She uncrossed her arms as she tilted her head the other way, lidding her eyes and smiling wildly at him. She seemed to enjoy this tune too, as the voice of the transparent group put his lips to the microphone.

"So, are we going to dance?"

_It was late last night before she hit me up,__  
__Baby, don't you know nothing good happens after midnight?__  
__You see the night before I couldn't keep my hands off her,__  
__Yeah I wanted to drink her up.__  
__Her body burned like a fire and I knew, I knew I couldn't take anymore from her._

She put her hand to his shoulder, thumb accidently brushing against neck, and the room seemed to burst with green, every detail of the dance floor lit with a brilliant electric emerald. He then smiled wildly, and she met his smile with the same. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the air, spinning her and dipping her back. 

_I'm burn burn burning,__  
__My stomachs turning,__  
__My hearts giving into my eyes.__  
__I'm stare stare staring__  
__At the skin shes sharing,__  
__My hearts giving into my eyes.__  
__Now it's too late, for me it's too late,__  
__I'm burn burn burning, yeah my hearts giving into my eyes._

When he looked down at her, she smirked up at him, her eyes reflecting the green in his eyes; the deepest and most haunting green that was ever seen, alive or dead. She would never admit it, but she loved those eyes, and the glow that he radiated. She loved a lot about him she even…she frowned at herself. Love? Maybe admiration, but not love. He drove her crazy, and got under her skin, and made her do things that she would never do normally. Even if he wouldn't leave her mind, and her heart beat every time she was near him. She felt more excited around him than anyone else. She adored him, but she didn't love him. He blinked at her, and grinned, leaning over her, making her skin shiver at the closeness. "Hey babes, the fun's just getting started." He said, voice low, and she blushed deeply.

_  
__She stood 5'4__  
__She had the brightest green I'd ever seen, I've never seen these eyes before.__  
__And just like that I was hypnotized.__  
__I sit back, I roll fat, thinking of you again.__  
__And I knew I couldn't take anymore from her._

He grinned and whipped her out to arms length, spinning her until she was outside of arms length. He grinned at her surprise, and before she could freak out from floating alone, he flicked his fingers. She came spinning back into his arms. She was then dipped low, being held close by him. She blushed deeply as they stayed in that position, staring into his eyes, which seemed warmer, and emerald instead of the wild toxic they normally were.

_I'm burn burn burning,__  
__My stomachs turning,__  
__My hearts giving into my eyes.__  
__I'm stare stare staring__  
__At the skin shes sharing,__  
__My hearts giving into my eyes.__  
__Now it's too late, for me it's too late,__  
__I'm burn burn burning, yeah my hearts giving into my eyes._

The band then started to turn into an anxious tone, different from the energetic one just a second ago. Beetlejuice started to run his fingers through her hair, feeling the silk feel to it, accidently pulling it free from its ponytail. He then ran a thumb across her cheek, and smirked at her, not noticing the flesh color of his own thumb. He was wrapped up in the deep brown shock. 

_I'm sweating bullets like a boy that has just been caught,__  
__You say your love is all I need, but I don't need a lot.__  
__You say you're sorry but I know that you're not_

Lydia blushed deeply and stared up at him, into his eyes, absentmindedly bringing a hand down from his shoulder and brushing the flat of her hand against his face. She smiled as she felt the intense warmth of his face, even feeling some sweat on his forehead. She then ran a hand through his hair, brushing it back and wanting to see his whole face.

_I'm sweating bullets like a boy that has just been caught,__  
__You say your love is all I need, but I don't need a lot.__  
__You say you're sorry but I know that you're not_

They stopped dancing at this point, even though the music picked back up. They slowly inched closer to each other, wanting to feel more of each other pressed against, flesh pressed against flesh. Slowly their foreheads pressed against one another, and he grinned widely, something deep in his eyes. She smiled in return, their noses barely touching, and she looked him over. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his were wrapped around her waist. It got so hot, that steam filled the room slowly. Slowly, they almost touch…

_I'm burn burn burning,__  
__My stomachs turning,__  
__My hearts giving into my eyes.__  
__I'm stare stare staring__  
__At the skin shes sharing,__  
__My hearts giving into my eyes.__  
__Now it's too late, for me it's too late,__  
__I'm burn burn burning, yeah my hearts giving into my eyes_

As soon as the song ended though, there was a crash of the front door slamming open violently. The room went dark instantly, and Beetlejuice dropped her. She let out a sound as she hit the floor, and he panicked. "Oh crap! Lydia!" he screeched, as he zoomed down to her and tried to help her up. She looked at him, studied him, and sighed. He was back to looking slightly blue, with grungy hair and toxic green eyes…

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" She shook her head and stood up, looking him over and smirking lightly.

"Nothing…no…" they both turned as there was a shrill screech coming from the front. Beetlejuice grabbed her and took her there instantly. What awaited them was not a pretty sight.

Lydia gasped as a group as big as a town flooded the main room of the giant roadhouse. The crowd started to grow restless as two girls were tossed forward, as if to be sacrificed. The taller of the two groaned out loudly as she twisted in pain. Her left ankle seemed to be twisted, or broken. The smaller of the two whimpered softly. Her glasses and her nose both broken and covered in blood. Lydia gasped and made to move, but was held back by Beetlejuice, who was watching with stone cold eyes. He listened to the conversation below, exchanged between a big man, two boys, and the two girls.

"So, this is your alleged castle." The big one scoffed, looking around as if he owned the place.

The taller of the two girls groaned and nodded. "Y-yes Father Otho, we showed you exactly where we saw it…" She coughed and curled into herself.

The shorter red head coughed out blood and started to shake. "S-so please…don't drown us…don't drown us like them…" the girl whimpered.

One of the boys, the one who was dazed, spoke. "It doesn't seem like Lydia's father would come to a place like this." He spoke nasally.

The shorter of the two boys chuckled. "Yeah, this place is a dump." He then turned to the big guy. "Well expanding your land was part of the bargain." He said, with a grin.

The big guy nodded and seemed to smirk, scanning the place. "Well, even if we don't find that woman's father, at least I got my part of the bargain." He seemed to chuckle, ignoring the two girls who were staring in awe and fear.

"Y…you killed Adam and Barbara, for land?" The tall girl said slowly, not comprehending what was just said.

He turned to her, as if just remembering she was still there. He raised an eyebrow, as if talking to a child. "Sacrifices do have to be made in order to achieve the greater good my dear. Even if you have to get the blade a little bloody in order to do so."

The tall girl was starting to shake in anger, and looked at the small girl. She was passed out from the pain and loss of blood. She then looked back at the big guy. "You're a monster. A wolf in sheep's clothing." She said; her voice low and her anger burning through her eyes. She tried to get up, but she screamed from the pain in her ankle.

The short boy chuckled. "That will teach you not to move on a broken bone."

The taller of the two boys then tapped his chin in thought. "But what of Mr. Deetz? If he isn't here, then where…"

There was a crash at the back of the crowd, and a man dragged another man, half to death from the cold, with blond hair and wild eyes, to the front of the crowd. "Heh, here you go Father Otho. Found Chuck frozen a while back off of the road a bit." He said gruffly as he threw the blond man to the floor. There was a crack, and the blond snapped out of his fear with a sharp pain coming from his shoulder. He screamed and held his shoulder, feeling the dislocation.

The three males turned to the blond, two with smirks, and the other with a smile of relief and worry in his eyes. The shorter of the two boys then walked over to the blond, who was sitting up, about to fall over again. He then kneeled in front of the blond, and tilted his head. "Good to see ya Chuck. Say, can ya answer us if this is the right place you were going to?"

The blond stared at the short boy, trying to comprehend what he was saying and the pain at the same time. The boy frowned and grabbed the blonds arm, then yanked at it. The blond screamed. "Listen up Chuck. If you don't then bad things will happen." The blond was looking at him fully, trying to concentrate. The short boy then smiled kindly, letting go of the blonds arm. "That a boy Chucky. Now, get a good look at the room around you." The blond slowly did as he was told, almost phasing out of focus at one point. The short boy then snapped his fingers, and the blond looked at him. "Now, is this where Lydia is?" The boy tilted his head, pressing his hands down on his knees.

The blond blinked a few times, and hunched forward in thought. Slowly, as a frown reached the boys lips, the blond responded with a nod. "My..my pumpkin…my little Lydia…she…she was taken…by a monster…taken by a monster…" He then slouched forward, out like a light.

The shorter of the two boys frowned and kicked the blond over onto the tall girl, who grunted in pain, in the depths of unconsciousness. "What do you think Father Otho?"

The big man then tapped his chin, and turned to the crowd, getting everyone's attention. "Search this god forsaken place, and find the girl Lydia. If she is not here then burn the place down!"

"Even with them in it?"

"Even with them in it."

The crowd seemed to cheer, as they dispersed and searched the lower level.

Beetlejuice sneered and turned his attention to Lydia, who was keeled over and shaking, gripping her dress and biting her lip until it bled. He looked back down at the crowd, who were slowly making their way up the levels. He groaned, and scooped Lydia up into his arms. "Now's not the time to be having a mental break down Lyds." He sighed and zipped through the walls.

She started to shake in his arms, and he groaned. This wasn't good. He had to protect her, by all means. Fat chance fatty back there was going to get his hands on his Lydia. When they got to a safe place, he stared as all the servants from the castle were in the same place. They were in a corner, fearful that the strange people were going to hurt them. He sneered and looked at them. "What the hell. You bunch are wimps." He mumbled and looked at Lydia, who was still curled up in his arms.

He sighed and shifted her into one arm, and he started to shake her lightly. "Babes, babes…come on, show some life babes."

"They're gone…my friends…they're gone…"

He flinched as she spoke softly, brokenly. He stiffened and looked at her awkwardly. He flinched when he felt eyes instantly on him. "They were killed! The only two people that gave a damn about me in that town died. The other three are about to die, and you want me to be ok?!" She snapped and started to sob loudly. Everyone in that room flinched and stared at Beetlejuice and Lydia.

Beetlejuice started to panic, and did the only thing he could think of; wrapped his arms around her and hold her so tight that she wouldn't be able to breath, let alone sob.

She just rested her head on his shoulder and sobbed silently, gripping his jacket tightly. "Askel…" She mumbled, and he sighed, rocking her. This might be awkward as hell for him, but it's way better hearing his name then her crying her eyes out.

A large crash brought them all back to reality, as they slowly got closer and closer to the room. Lydia then pulled away from Beetlejuice, and he looked at her wide eyed and grabbed for her. "Lydia!" Beetlejuice said sharply. "Don't go out there, who knows what that fat bastard might do to you!" He said, angered by the sad look on her face. "Why the hell are you sad now? Don't fucking cry again, and don't sacrifice yourself, you stupid broad!" he sneered and grabbed her arm quickly, pulling her close. He then grabbed her around the shoulders and puller her into his chest, a sneer on his face as he looked from her to the doorway.

She stared at his neck for a second, before looking up at him and smiling sadly. "Thank you…"

He flinched and looked down at her. He sighed. "Don't thank me for saving your sorry ass."

She shook her head and pulled away, gripping his shoulders and staring into his eyes. "No, thank you for all this. You didn't have to be kind to me, but now you're risking your life to save me…even if it's at the cost of your friends…" she sighed and pulled away, looking at him sadly, regretful.

He stared, and then sneered as realization sunk in. "Babes, don't do this! It's not worth it!"

"It's not worth it to save you?!" she snapped, and he started to shake.

"No! It's not!"

She then grabbed his face and stretched out his cheeks, staring into his eyes. He started at her as she rested her hands back against his cheeks gently, rubbing the pinch marks with her thumbs.

"Beetlejuice, I care about you very much. I may not act like it, but to me you are a very special person. I've never been happier then I have been in these last few days." She smiled softly as her eyes lidded. "You've shown me something that I can never see anywhere else. I want to stay, but I can't. If I do, then the friends I've made here will be gone…" She sighed as her hands slid from his cheeks to his shoulders. The top of her head then rested against his neck, and she was pulled close by strong arms. "If I don't go then you'll be gone. I can't do that…I can't be the cause for so much death and despair. I've already caused enough…"

She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes. "Forget about me…please…" she sniffed as his thumb rubbed over her cheek. She smiled at him. "You have amazing eyes, by the way…" she then stiffened as there was a slam of a door a few steps away. She pulled away. "Hurry, before they see you…disappear." She then slammed the door open, and before he could do anything, she was grabbed and taken.

---

Lydia was dragged along by Vince, who was fawning over her. "Oh, my Lydia, my dear sweet Lydia, it didn't hurt you did it?" He questioned worriedly. She looked away, but spoke, as her friends were dangled in front of her by the crowd.

"No, he did not hurt me at all. He was great to me…"

"Ah, so you brainwashed that monster. I knew I loved you for your cunning." Vince said as he grabbed Lydia's hand and kissed it passionately. She jerked away, and met eyes with the melodramatic boy. He stared into her eyes, and frowned. "He took you for his, didn't he?"

She flinched and shivered. He smirked. "He did not then. Otherwise you would not be so disgusted with that idea." He smiled and pulled Lydia into his arms. "My dear sweet damsel, you will be mine."

She flinched and became stiff. "Y…yours?"

He nodded wildly and smiled at Lydia. "In the morning there will be a ceremony for our fates to be tied."

Lydia started to panic, and jerked away from him. "What? No! I don't want to marry you!"

Vince looked at her sadly, and Lance frowned at her, walking behind her with Otho to discuss some things. "My sweet Lydia, did it brainwash you? You are never like this."

"Like what?" she snapped, and was quickly grabbed by the lower arms, by Lance. Vince turned to her, all the while moving with the group.

"Speaking rudely to your future lover. It's almost as if you don't love me anymore."

She sneered. "I never loved you Vincent."

Vince flinched, and then smiled sweetly, and grabbed her chin delicately. "My dear sweet princess, it's brainwashed you into believing you love it. Don't worry, Father Otho will cleanse you of all the evil that has entered your body. He will cleanse you along with your friends, isn't that right Father Otho?" he asked, looking at Otho. Otho looked at Vince, and the now terrified Lydia, and smiled reassuringly.

"Yes my dear, I will cleanse you and your friends. Your father though, he is a lost cause." Otho said wistfully, and Lydia started to pull away from Lance, and was quickly grabbed by one of Otho's so called priests in masks.

"My father?! What are you going to do with him!?" She screamed, and Otho almost chuckled.

"Since he is filled with sin and taint, he will burn with that roadhouse."

Lydia became stiff and silent, staring wide eyed at Otho. Tears started to form at the fringe of her eyes. She then started to scream loudly. "Beetlejuice!" she screamed out as Vince tried to calm her. "Beetlejuice!" She pleaded through her scream, pulling harder at her captives grip. Lance started to pull her along with the priest, but she still resisted. "Beetlejuice!" She screamed, watching the road house as one person slowly made their way up the hill, dangling her father over his shoulder and gripping a gas can in the free hand.


	15. Your last chance

**Author's Note:** Alright guys, can you believe it? **This is the last chapter!** I'd like to thank the reviewers of the last chapter: rubydesires, Reader, Substitute Reality, Cybernetic Mango, dbzgtfan2004, and Kaggy-Higgs88. I enjoyed writing this story, very much.

There's nothing much else to say, except I'll be writing other stories for this fandom, so look out for my name. I love you all, and I want to give cookies to all of you. 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beetlejuice, or Beauty and the Beast. The random twists and characters that do not belong to either fandom are mine though.

Now, onto the last chapter of:

**The Beauty and The Beetle**

**Ch. 15:** The last chance

---

_Why did she go?_

A low hum of energy filled the room, as sparks of lime green and ruby red filled every crevice. A blond sat against a wall, defeated and pissed. His eyes were covered with dirty strands, as his teeth, making an appearance to the world, made a sharp squeal, as his upper lip twitched. He curled forward slightly, as servants watched his back seem to grow shorter.

_Who does she think I am?_

There was a crash from the main level of the roadhouse, as there was a loud splash and breaking of glass. Followed by it were pleads of a barely able Chuck-at least that's what those pricks called the poor guy. Pleads became louder, as coughs started to come rapidly. Jaded flickers of servants flinched as there was a loud thump.

Jacques and Ginger, the boldest out of all of the servants, stepped forward slowly, and stood behind him. They glanced at each other, trying to think of how to approach their master. Ginger waved for him to start, and Jacques narrowed his stare at her. He bit back a sigh and looked at Beetlejuice. "Master, I think we should…" His voice trailed off as there were thick coughs coming from below, and a slight chuckle from a stranger's voice.

"What, bonehead?!" Beetlejuice snapped, his voice raw and thick. He hadn't moved at all, and the two looked at each other again. Ginger wrung two of her hands, and looked at Beetlejuice worriedly, obviously there for moral support.

Jacques looked at Beetlejuice, and sighed lightly, closing his eyes. He didn't like how his friend looked; betrayed and broken; the shaking didn't help either. "We should protect the castle; protect the rose."

At this Beetlejuice snapped. In one motion he raised, spun, grabbed Jacques by the neck of his spine, and slammed him against the wall a foot off the ground. Jacques was surprised, until he noticed the wild of his eyes, and sighed openly, looking at him with pity. Beetlejuice sneered deeply, letting spikes grow out of his back, along his spine. "Don't fucking look at me like that, damn bonehead. I'm your fucking master, so treat me as such!" he snarled, and Jacques frowned even more.

_A damn weakling?_

"My master is not an animal." Jacques said slowly as he pulled Beetlejuice's hand off gently, slowly lowering himself to the ground. Beetlejuice flinched as Jacques continued. "My master may be pig headed, and cold towards others, but he fights for what he loves, no?" Jacques said, tilting his head down and looking at him upwardly. "And my master is my master for those reasons, not for this." He said, waving a hand at the shaking, spiked man before him.

Beetlejuice stared at Jacques, scoffed, and then slowly pulled his spikes inward. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked away. He flinched as a boney hand rested on his shoulder. "So, are you a man, or a mouse?" He asked, and slowly everyone in the room smiled with hope at their master.

_No…_

And slowly, Beetlejuice started to grin a wicked grin.

_I'm the fucking ghost with the most…_

---

Screams could be heard in the center of town, as Lydia was on display. Wrists tied to two by fours, ankles tied together at the base of the structure, as her dress, torn and tattered, was barely hanging onto her shaking form. Her eyes, wide from the panic and terror originated from the mass of town folk, narrowed in anger. She sneered and threw her shoulders, wiggling and coughing a sob as the thick robe dug deeper into her wrists. Her big brown eyes followed the rather giant priest, as he carried sharp implements and holy water in alcohol bottles.

She then stiffened; her face shiny with sorrow and anguish. Father Otho, as the town lovingly called him, then played with the sharp point of one of the daggers, ignoring the shivering girl in front of him. Lydia bit her lip, and slowly closed her eyes, pushing back a sob. "Father Otho…"

She felt eyes flicking onto her, ignoring the crowd's anxiousness. She met his eyes, a plead in the depths of her soul. "Father Otho…Why do you wish to do such harm onto God's creature?" her voice asked softly, lips barely matching what was said.

Otho didn't waste another second on her figure, as he fiddled with another knife. "God's creature…puh, God's creature. If you truly were God's creature, than you would not be swayed so easily; neither would your…associates, or father." He glanced up as he selected his favored item of purification, noticing the confused, and fearful, look in her eyes. A smirk almost slipped onto his face. "Your associates, the Maitlands, needed to be purified by the waters of God." He said calmly.

She started to shake. "You…you drowned them?" She asked softly, and got a nod in reply.

"Yes, but they are in a better place. The demons left them as soon as the water reached every inch of their body, mind, and soul. I'm sure, in purgatory, they are thanking me to the core. I released them from their blasphemy, as I will do to you soon enough."

"You're going to…drown me?"

"No, no, dear child, I cannot simply drown you. The demons have sunk in too deeply to simply be washed away. We need to cut into your soul, and wash you clean from the inside out, spiritually and otherwise."

She eyed the knives and alcohol, and then looked at him. "That is torture."

"This is purification, my dear. You will thank me as soon as I cleanse every inch of your property." He said, as he touched the sharp cold to her upper chest, right above her left breast. "We will start with the heart. Do not fear child, the demons will soon be gone soon." He said, noticing her shaking.

With a long, slow cut, she let out a scream. The crowd gasped and started to riot, claiming her to be possessed by a demon. Otho then grabbed the bottle, and splashed it into her wound. She started to shake, screaming louder. The riot became louder, as he tried to hush Lydia. "Be calm, the pain is the demon in your body trying to close itself from the holy water. You mustn't scream, or else the demon will claim you permanently. We must leave the wound open, so that the demon can be removed by the holy water. Don't scream, or you will die." He said calmly, as he repeated his procedure.

All the while, Lance watched with a hidden smirk, and Vince watched on with peaceful bliss, glad that his fiancée was getting proper treatment for her disease. She would be fine soon enough, he told himself, and clapped as Otho finished the mutilation of Lydia.

Lydia wasn't fairing well, as to be expected. She clamped her eyelids shut, and held back a groan, not wanting to give Father Otho any reason to let more of her blood flow free. She panted softly, not noticing as a presence gathered in front of her. There was a small, cold touch to her cheek, as it danced around the small, but deep, cut to her right cheek bone. There was a coo as lips touched to hers, but she didn't notice. There was a soft voice that followed, and she could only catch a few words: Lydia, married, sunrise.

She closed her eyes and everything started to fuzz onto the brink of darkness. She couldn't let herself pass out, not now. Slowly though, she felt the black shift into green, and there was a voice in her head. She smiled faintly and started to laugh breathily.

She didn't need to see the sparkle of green fury, or that it lit up the night sky in a ten mile radius. She didn't need to focus onto the body of black and white that stood in between her and Vince, but what she heard was good enough.

There was a loud crack of face breaking against knuckle, as the crowd shouted 'Prince'. Loud footsteps echoed, and as suddenly as they showed, they left, followed by loud thumps and groans. There was a hurried huff, and heavy steps tried to be as rapid as possible, but didn't speed up as wished. Then, a choked scream, as a low growl filled her mind with a pleasurable after-growl.

Then, words so low that wouldn't normally be caught filled her head.

"Hurt my Lydia again, you sick lard, and next time you won't be let off easily."

A sickening snap of spine and skull dislodging tapped on the inner workings of her mind, if only for a second.

Then, she slowly started to fade…

---

Beetlejuice stood, looking around his personal battlefield. There were a lot of unconscious bodies, two bodies with broken noses and red war paint, and there was the giant body of filth and death, but that's beside the point. He then turned to his red soaked angel, sprawled out savior style. It made his blood boil; he would take his rage out on the boulder of lard in the corner soon enough.

In less than a blink of an eye, he was in front of her, grabbing her by the sides of her face. He shook her head gently, his eyes wide and his heart pounding. Every nerve, every fiber of his being, was screaming at him for not being there sooner. "Lydia…Lydia..." He clamped his eye shut and lowered his head down. "Lydia!" He snapped, and got a faint sigh of pain in response. His head shot up, and he slowly smiled, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

He looked her over, and growled lowly. He leaned forward, to the cut on her chest, and pressed his lips against it gently. He closed his eyes and started to breath out green smoke. It seeped into her wound, and, as he pulled away from it, he watched as the wound glowed the toxic green. It then started to close itself, stitching into itself until it finished quickly with a final tug. His eyes slowly lidded, and he looked at her face with a pain in his eyes.

He continued with this process, taking extra care with certain wounds, and slowly the ten mile glow turned into a two foot one. After he was finished he looked at her, and untied her slowly; starting from the ankles, and working on the wrists. When he finished he grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her into his grip, but fell back, finally feeling the weight of her, and what he had just done.

With a shift she was leaning against his chest, as he leaned against the wood prison Lydia was in earlier, and he watched her with tired eyes. He traced the outline of her face, feeling every curve through the blood and pain marks. He let out a faint growl, as he rested his head on hers, and then planted a light kiss on her forehead. Then, as he looked at her face, which was as beautiful as ever, he softly smirked and spoke with a low husky speech.

"Hey babes, I really fucked up, huh?...heh…it's alright babes…we're both hurting pretty badly…"

He chuckled softly, as he brushed a strand of blood soaked hair from her face. He then leaned over slightly, looking at her with sad eyes.

"Listen babes…I…I won't be around much longer. I know you might think…I abandoned you…but I ain't gonna do that if I had any choice…cuz Lyds…that old hag…might have not seen it, but I found the last second loop hole… ya see…we ghosts…have a life source, a life glow, if you will…"

He paused, and closed his eyes. He felt more tired than he felt in a long time.

"we can use this life source, to heal the people we care for…and love…"

He slowly looked at her, his thumb brushing over her motionless lips slowly.

"it's a last chance thing, ya see. You're a great babe, and if I had let ya die, than I wouldn't be able ta live with myself, ya know? That fat bastard cut ya up pretty badly, but don't worry, I got him for ya."

He chuckled only once, looking through her eyelids and into her soul.

"So…I gotta do this for ya Lyds…even if ya end up hating me, I gotta save ya. I gotta love ya, cuz if I don't then it's not worth bein' on this earth…heh…ya'd probably think I'd be a coward, sayin' all this to an unconscious chick, but if I didn't, then I couldn't say it at all…"

He sighed, and leaned forward, touching nose to nose. He looked at her eyes again.

"I love ya Lydia, so much I'm givin' up the last of my juice to ya…the last of my life source…heh…don't be a stranger."

He smirked and pressed his lips to hers gently. With one final breath, he was gone…

---

Lydia felt better than she ever had before, better than she could remember in fact. What awaited her in the waking world killed her buzz on life though, as she stared into the face of the dead. Her eyes widened, as she took in all of it; the grayed skin, the faded blond, and the empty green.

She started to shake, and she grabbed his shoulders, hoping it was all a dream.

"Beetlejuice…"

It had to be a dream…

"_Beetlejuice…_"

It just…had to be a dream…

"_**Askel!**_"

This was not a dream.

Heat blurred her vision, as she clamped her eyes shut and crumpled against his broken body. She started to sob and scream, when she heard a snap of the air. Smoke filled her senses, but she ignored it.

"Damn kids, thinking stunts like that would actually solve anything."

Lydia quieted slowly, but still pressed herself against the broken body, trying to imprint his scent into her DNA.

The woman, annoyed by the whole fiasco, took a nice, long, drag out of her immortal cancer stick, and blew it around the two, enveloping them and catching Lydia's notice. Slowly the girl dressed in scars and tears turned to the woman with the smell of annoyance and aggravation deep on her person. Lydia didn't rub her face, didn't look at herself, and didn't even think about how she was still alive. All she did was gawk at the ninety-something year old woman, with a thick gash through her neck, and ask her one simple question.

"Who are you?"

The woman stared at Lydia, and closed her eyes, taking a smaller drag from her cigarette. Then, with it dangling from her right hand, which was lazing over the woman's right shoulder, the woman blew a puff into the girl's face.

"Juno."

"Juno?"

"Juno."

"Oh…"

Lydia sent a glance back at the limb body in the corner, but was snapped back into attention by the loud bark the woman's second mouth seemed to make.

"Don't look at him; he is not your concern at this moment."

Lydia turned her big sad eyes to the stern woman, and nodded slowly.

"Then what is my concern?"

"Your plea."

Lydia blinked, and raised an eyebrow. "My plea?"

Juno paused, and then sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, and pressing the butt of her stick to her lips, in reassurance. "Mortals, these days…" She mumbled, and then turned to Lydia. "Yes, your plea on why his soul should return to his body."

Lydia paused, and felt the echo of soothing words rushing back to the forefronts of her mind. "But…" slowly, she went on. "But…isn't that…life energy…their soul?"

Juno sighed. "Not a quick one, are you?" she said quickly, and then laced her fingers together, cigarette in a safe place, as she leaned forward on her elbows. "That life source mumbo jumbo is just a replacement for the dead, and those bound to the dead. Yes, it can repair a soul, and act as a substitute, but it is no replacement. The occupant of said life source may feel like they felt in their human state, but their emotions are magnified, and the thing they are missing from their original soul, becomes magnified in the presence of someone who can supply that need."

Lydia blinked, and closed her eyes, trying to process the information. It was a lot to take in. Heck, she finally noticed that, somehow, they were in front of the castle again. Probably the doing of this Juno woman...Finally, her mind made the connection. "But, I couldn't supply anything for him."

Juno groaned and flicked her hand towards her cigarette, the need for it burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. "He gave you his life source though. Tricky bastard did find a loop hole, a damn good one too. But, at least it proved something from our agreement." She said more to herself than to Lydia, who just watched. Cold stone eyes flicked up to meet the intimidated brown ones. "He needed someone who wouldn't bend to his will. He needed someone who had a spine, wit, and could keep him on his damn toes. To him that's 'reality in a person' or some crap like that." Juno barked, and Lydia blinked.

"I'm the furthest from real though."

"That may be the case, but you could see through the disguise of your home. You knew everyone was not as they seemed, and you side stepped it all. You saw the good in that cheep bastard, if there even was any to begin with…" Juno sighed and scratched at the bridge of her nose. "Because of that, because you treated him like an equal, Askel's jackassery melted away into something genuine, something he would risk his life for; love."

Juno then fixated on Lydia, noticing she became more and more miserable by the second. "So, since that end of the bargain was fulfilled, we need to see about the other end. Can't have this fucking kiddy ride be all for not."

Lydia furrowed her eyebrows, and stared at Juno. "Bargain?"

Juno was silent, for a little bit, as she eyed her stick with desire. She then closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes, the bargain to win his soul back." She said, her eyes flickering back open. "The question is, do you want his soul?"

Lydia paused, closed her eyes, and slowly nodded. "Yes…he saved my life…he's my best friend…" she said, slowly opening her eyes. Juno was frowning heavily at that.

"You only want him back for those reasons? Because, if that's true, than that isn't going to cut it girlie." She said, sitting up and squaring her shoulders. "Is that your true reasoning? Your honest, truest feelings?"

Lydia was motionless, as her mind raced with what this woman said. She…she didn't know. Sure, he was her friend; her closest and dearest friend, sad enough to say. Even though she knew him for a week, more or less, she felt…like home around him. She was never bored, she looked forward to waking up, to seeing those eyes of his, and that warmth he showed, even though no one else acknowledged it. She doubted anyone could even see that side of him. He might be a jerk, invade her personal space, and demand outrageous things of her, she… She couldn't live without it. She felt a thrill around him, she felt accepted, she felt peaceful, she felt like nothing could hurt her, when she was around him.

She felt happy…

She felt loved…

She…

Lydia slowly opened her eyes, and looked into Juno's expecting eyes. "I love him. I couldn't live a day without him, and life without him wouldn't be worth living."

Juno paused, to take those words in. She rested the sides of her forefingers to her chin, as she closed her eyes. A few moments later, she looked at Lydia, and with one swoop she grabbed a stamp, and slammed it down onto a paper.

"Smart wording girl."

Then, in a flash, the farthest most corners of the horizon, as far as the eye could see in all directions, started to lose their haze. A darkness that had befallen the kingdom slowly started to separate, and be pulled towards the two females. The forest that surrounded the town, and the roadhouse, dissipated as hellish fog passed over it. The small town of medieval rituals turned into a booming modern metropolis, and the decaying roadhouse turned into a beautiful stone castle.

Then, as all that fog gathered into a giant ball, the darkness slowly seeped out of it, fading into nothingness, until it was pure liquid green light. The ball of light condensed, and slowly hovered over to where Beetlejuice's body lay. Then, it slowly flowed into his mouth, making him glow.

"Keep him out of trouble now." Came Juno's final words, as she disappeared into the atmosphere.

Lydia walked over to his body slowly, and knelt down next to him when he finally stopped glowing. She reached out slowly, but hesitated as a spark flew out of his skin. She gasped, and gently touched his chest, right where his heart would be.

A few seconds passed, when he jerked forward, and took in a deep and long breath. He sat up, clutched his chest and throat, and panted slowly, his skin taking a nice pink tone.

Tears filled Lydia's eyes, and she launched forward, tackling him from the side. He let out a yelp, and fell over. "Beetlejuice!" Lydia cried, and pressed her face into his chest. He blinked, looked down at her, and smiled softly, holding close.

"Lydia…" He hummed into the top of her head, and kissed it softly. He then smirked, and then finally started to laugh loudly. "Hell yes! I'm alive!" he stopped laughing, looked at her, and then grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away just enough to look her in the face. "Lyds…how'd I get like this?"

Lydia's face went a deep red, as she shifted, looking down at the ground. "Y…you see…Juno negotiated with me…she said I had to prove to her why you should get your soul back…and I said a few things…and well…here we are!" she smiled and scratched the back of her neck, laughing lightly.

He blinked and grabbed her chin lightly, catching her attention again. "What'd ya say babes?"

Lydia blushed and shifted, biting her lower lip. "It's…embarrassing…"

He slowly smirked and lidded his eyes, leaning forward. "Did ya tell that old hag that ya couldn't live without my greatness around?" he joked, but didn't get a response. He blinked and looked at her, raising his eyebrows slowly. "You…you did?"

She sighed looked away. "I just said that I needed to kick your jerk butt for dying on me, and that if ya didn't come back, then I wouldn't know what I would do about my lovesickness…" she flinched and turned away, looking down at the ground. "I wouldn't know what to do without you…and I wouldn't know how to deal with a broken heart…" she mumbled. "But that's probably the stupidest thing you've ever heard, right?" she asked softly.

Arms around her told her otherwise. She blinked and turned to look at Askel, who was holding her close, with a hand between her shoulder blades, and another on the back of her head. He pulled her into his lap, and held her close, like she was his life source. She smiled softly and wrapped her arms around him, leaning against him and closing her eyes.

"If anything happened ta ya Lyds, I dunno what'd I do. I'm so fucking glad yer alive." He said into her hair, and she smiled.

---

The two of them walked, hand in hand, towards the castle, when all of the servants came running out, cheering and roaring in happiness. The crowd surrounded the two, cheering on their master and his new reason for life. Then, slowly, they quieted down, and four individuals squeezed through the crowd. The first was a man, with a dark tan and smoothed back black hair, sporting a muscle shirt and black jeans, hand in hand with a woman. She had curly hair the color of rust and big hazel eyes, wearing a bubblegum pink summer dress and lavender apron. The third individual, helping the fourth by the arm and back gently, was a rather lean man with dark brown hair and large kind eyes the color of the sky. He wore a green shirt and blue jeans, and he smiled at the fourth; a familiar elder blond.

Lydia gasped and pulled away from Askel, rushing forward to her father, who looked at her with happiness. "Papa! You're safe!" she cried, hugging Charles close.

He nodded gently and pulled away to smile at her. "Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine…I don't know how that happened, since I was coughing up a lung earlier, but I feel so much better. These kind people helped me." He said, waving his hand to the crowd, who smiled and made noises of pleasure.

Lydia smiled and nodded, but quickly noticed someone rushing to the middle of the crowd. A young man with bouncy blond hair and glasses that fit his face perfectly, rushed towards Askel and launched himself at the older blond. Askel blinked and sighed, patting the younger doppelganger on the back. "There, there Will, everything is fine now. No need to let loose the water works."

Will nodded fiercely, still clinging to Askel. "You could have died though! What were you thinking!" He cried, and Askel smirked.

"Love, that's what I was thinking." He nodded, and Lydia smiled.

---

Slowly the kingdom continued, as it did on the night of the curse, six hundred and thirty two years ago. Except, there was one change; Askel was happy with the woman of his heart by his side.

Fin.


End file.
